Living Metonymy
by VictorianPearl
Summary: During the summer before senior year, Syaoran's finally returning to Tomoeda again! What he doesn't know is that a great evil follows him and it's ready for revenge.
1. Reflections

VictorianPearl: Hello, I'm back

VictorianPearl: Hello, I'm back. I've been able to get in some typing time.

Syaoran: I must say, I like this story better than the last one you wrote.

Li: Why? Are you criticizing VictorianPearl's work?

Syaoran: Maybe I am, what are you going to do about it?

Li: I'll-

VictorianPearl: Okay! This story is based eight years after the capture of the void. It is written as if Syaoran had to return to Hong Kong after the capture.

Syaoran: But Sakura and I are together right?

Li: Duh! Who the heck else would she put you with?

VictorianPearl: Thank you for your helpfulness Li.

Li: You're welcome.

VictorianPearl: Now, if there are no more interruptions, I'll begin the fiction.

Living Metonymy

Chapter 1 Reflections

Sakura sat on her bed. She was reviewing what had happened in the last seven years in her head. These thoughts came to her while she was watching old video tapes form fifth grade. Tomoyo had made copies.

Tomoyo now had an online shop. Her business was going well. She had come up with many new designs, but she kept the Cardcaptor battle costumes a secret in her special van.

Sakura laid back and sighed. Tomoyo had been a great friend and was always there, especially after Syaoran had left. Sakura had told Chiharu, Rika, and Naoko about her love for Syaoran after he had left. They were a wonderful comfort.

Chiharu and Takashi had gotten together. Takashi still lied all the time, one would think that he _enjoyed_ being whacked by Chiharu all of the time.

Rika had baked cookies for a week for Sakura after revealing her secret love for Syaoran. Rika and Mr. Terada were now secretly dating; he was, after all, no longer their teacher. Rika insisted that they all call him Yoshiyuki, his real name, but it was still a little weird for Sakura to see her good friend dating her old elementary teacher.

Naoko had given Sakura many horror books on tape to keep her mind off Syaoran at night. Needless to say, it worked. Before, Sakura couldn't sleep for thoughts of Syaoran, now she couldn't sleep for fears of ghosts in the dark. But thanks to Naoko, Sakura eventually overcame those fears, she was no longer afraid of such things.

There was one more mysterious character, Eriol. He was to marry Kaho, but even though he was a reincarnate, he was still just Eriol, and he didn't think the relationship was going to work. Kaho left to, yet again, travel the world. Eriol remained, and soon, he and Tomoyo found each other.

Sakura sighed again. There was, of course, one person who should be in the whole picture but was not, Syaoran. Sakura wrote him, and continued to write him. She wished she could reminisce on all the wonderful things that had happened to them as a couple since the capture of Void, but he was in Hong Kong. Sakura missed him now, more than ever.

Sometimes at night she would listen to the radio, whenever an old love song came on, it reminded her of Syaoran, and she would cry. Her heart still ached for him, but she could do nothing, only wait.

One song, specifically, that made her cry was _I Can be Your Hero_. Thoughts of Syaoran would flood to her mind. This song had her in tears every time. Love hurt, but it would be worth it, all for Syaoran.

In Hong Kong, Syaoran was listening to that very same song. A solitary tear ran down his cheek. He looked around his room. He had a few framed pictures from Tomoeda on a desk.

Syaoran looked into his hands; he was holding the teddy bear, Sakura. He gave it a little hug. Soon, hopefully, he would be able to see her again. No more letters, he would be able to hold her close, wipe away any tears, and be there.

Syaoran gave a small smile. It would be soon. A great friend to him during these past seven years was Meiling. She was a great friend and support. Syaoran would go on talking for a long time after hard trials, Meiling would simply listen and comfort. Syaoran didn't know how she did it, become so strong.

Meiling did not have the best parents. Syaoran's mom, her aunt, was more of a mother. Meiling's parents didn't care about her; they only wanted her to marry for power. Meiling didn't want that.

Meiling soon had realized that she only loved Syaoran as a friend. She overcame and learned to treat him like a friend and not hang all over him. Syaoran had been a very good and much needed friend back.

Meiling's parents had tried to get Meiling involved in a few more engagements, but Syaoran was able to get his mom to talk them out of it. It had been hard times for Meiling. But she stayed strong and came through; Syaoran had helped her a lot.

Syaoran planned on taking Meiling back to Tomoeda with him. He would go for Sakura, Meiling would go for freedom. They would not live together, but they would attend Seiju High for their last year of high school.

School would be starting in one month; hopefully, he would be able to finish all of his business by that time.

Syaoran got up and walked over to his picture frames on his desk, the teddy bear clutched gently in his left hand. He reached out to a silver frame and picked it up. It was a recent picture of Sakura that she had sent him.

Sakura was in the shade of a large tree, she was wearing a white dress that blew with the wind. Pearls were cascading down her neck. She had a smile on her face, but her eyes were sad and dreary. She was so beautiful; he never wanted to take his eyes away from her. He wanted to jump into the picture and be with her, and then he could hold her in his arms and dance.

Syaoran set the picture down, what he wanted, of course, was not possible…at the moment anyway. Once he got back, he would dance with her. But until then he had better sleep. He looked out the window, the sparkling stars reminded him of Sakura's staff and of everything they had gone through as Cardcaptors.

Syaoran changed into his night clothes and set the Sakura bear carefully in a shoebox and pushed it under his bed. He then climbed into his covers, ready for sleep. The tear was still on his cheek.

Many miles away in Japan, Sakura was doing the exact opposite as Syaoran. She was getting off of her bed, wiping away her tears, and went to get a little bear in a shoebox in her closet.

Sakura tiptoed across her room and opened her closet, careful not to wake a sleeping Kero in her drawer.

Sakura knelt down and opened up the shoebox, pulling out her Syaoran bear. She pet his soft green hair on his head. Sakura would wait for Syaoran forever, no matter how long or how much it hurt. Sakura put the Syaoran bear away and got back into her bed. She fell asleep to the old videos playing in the background.

Sakura heard a distant ringing noise; she couldn't tell where it was coming from. She reached out and opened her eyes sleepily. She blinked and realized her cell phone was ringing.

Sakura yawned and got up and answered it.

"Hey Sakura! Sorry I'm calling so early." The voice said.

Sakura looked at her clock that read 5:00 AM. "

"Why are you calling so early Tomoyo?" Sakura asked.

"Well, I couldn't sleep," Tomoyo proclaimed, Sakura sat gaping, "But that's not all!" Tomoyo hurried, "You had better turn on your T.V. to channel 10!"

Sakura turned off her VCR and turned to channel 10, what she saw made her gasp.

"Mr. Syaoran Li has become the new clan leader of Li clan." The reporter started, a picture of Syaoran was brought onto the television. Sakura blushed; he had grown much more handsome in the past seven years.

"Syaoran," Sakura whispered, completely awed at the coincidence that she was reminiscing about Syaoran that night. Suddenly, a sly though somehow managed to enter her brain. "Tomoyo, why couldn't you sleep for such a long period of time?"

"Umm…" Tomoyo faltered, "Well, Eriol came over-"

"Eriol-kun!" Sakura cried, "He's over at your house now?"

"Yeah," Tomoyo whispered sheepishly, in the background, Sakura could hear a muffled, "Tomoyo!"

"You haven't been doing anything bad have you Tomoyo?" Sakura asked suspiciously.

"Of course not!" Tomoyo cried, but Sakura had a little feeling that she was lying.

"Sure, well I'm going to go make breakfast, there's no way I can go back to sleep now." Sakura said.

"Alright- yes Eriol, I'm almost done! See you later, bye." Tomoyo hung up.

Sakura hung up and shut off the television. She was still a little dazed. Now that Syaoran was clan leader, did that mean he would come back soon? She would write and ask him, but what if he couldn't come back and the thought only hurt him?

Sakura went down to make breakfast; she hoped that she would do the right thing when the time came.

"Because I'm Sakura, I'm sure I'll be alright." Sakura said out loud, she gave a small smile and continued downstairs to make breakfast.

Syaoran couldn't believe what was happening. He'd gone t bed thinking that he still had a bit of work before him, but was shaken awake with none at all.

No sooner than the news had spread, did he announce to the elders that he was going back to Tomoeda, and was taking Meiling with him.

Suddenly, everything was happening at an exceedingly fast pace. By that afternoon, Syaoran had already booked a flight to Tomoeda, the plane left in three days. That would give him and Meiling plenty of time to pack.

Syaoran already had everything planned in his mind. He would assign them into Seiju High. Tomorrow, he would make a phone call to get him and Meiling two separate apartment rooms.

Syaoran was packing, he was about to put away the silver framed picture of Sakura. He smiled at it, so much sooner than he thought would he be able to see her. Syaoran beamed, he just hoped Touya wouldn't be too hard to get by.

Nothing could bring Syaoran down at this moment. Not the elders, the reporters, or even Touya Kinomoto! He was finally free to go back, and nobody could take it away.

Tomoyo hung up her cell phone and turned to Eriol. "What's wrong?" she asked worriedly, Eriol looked troubled. They were both sitting on a fluffy sofa in Tomoyo's room.

"Come here." Eriol said gently, pulling Tomoyo onto his lap, holding her close.

"Eriol." Tomoyo breathed, she knew something was bothering him. It was almost as if his emotion was flowing through his veins and into hers.

Eriol breathed in the scent of Tomoyo's hair. "A great evil will follow Syaoran to Tomoeda; it will be a very large threat to the four of us." He murmured.

"Sakura!" Tomoyo whispered, "Can- can you feel something…an aura?"

"A dark aura, Eriol said, running a hand through Tomoyo's hair, this was causing her to breath deeply. Eriol had called her at about 3:00 AM. Tomoyo hadn't been able to sleep anyway, so he came over.

Eriol had explained what Syaoran had to do in order to come back to Tomoeda. He had kept fairly close contact with Syaoran over the years, even though it was to Syaoran's distaste. Together, Eriol and Tomoyo had watched the reports a bit before deciding to call Sakura.

Eriol moved both his hands down Tomoyo's bare shoulders and forearms. Tomoyo was only dressed in a long, white, thin strapped night gown. Tomoyo shuddered as his hands moved to the bare of her back.

Eriol began to kiss the back of her shoulders, his warm hands on her forearms. Eriol couldn't tell what this new danger was, but Tomoyo was going to be very involved in it. He would have to protect her, he wouldn't let her get hurt, and if she did…he would never forgive himself.

Eriol began to move the kisses up to her neck. Tomoyo reached back with one arm and ran a hand through Eriol's dark blue hair.

Eriol's hands slid down to her waist and turned her body to face his. Eriol tenderly kissed Tomoyo's lips. She ran her hands from Eriol's hair down to his back.

Eriol learned Tomoyo down onto the sofa; she looked up at him, her lovely dark hair falling beneath her.

"Don't worry," Eriol whispered with an emotion-filled voice, "I won't do anything we might regret."

"I could never regret you Eriol." Tomoyo whispered, and with that, his lips came upon hers once more.

Although three days may sound evidently, very empty with nothingness, they were not. At least not in Tomoeda they weren't. Although Eriol could sense the oncoming danger, Sakura could not. Not because she was having trouble with her magic, but simply because her mind was much too occupied with thoughts of Syaoran to focus.

Sakura did not know that Syaoran was coming to Tomoeda, but she had a feeling he was coming soon. Although she did not sense the dark aura, she could sense Syaoran's warm one, for some odd reason.

The next three days, that were seemingly uneventful, had a lot to do with the oncoming danger. Eriol noticed it; Tomoyo noticed it, only Sakura could not. She also had a very good reason not to, after finding out that the love of your life might be coming back after seven years of not seeing him is definitely something to think about.

The first day, Rika, Naoko, and Chiharu all brought their boyfriends(Naoko found a boyfriend named Hachiro) to all see Sakura. They all kept telling Sakura how wonderful their lives were now that they had found love. Eriol and Tomoyo, who were there, had many thoughts about Syaoran approaching soon. For Sakura, the whole affair made her depressed.

An hour later, Sakura was walking around the park. She breathed in deeply. She absolutely loved her friends, but couldn't they see that they were saddening her? It was too much, she had to get out and get some fresh air.

Sakura walked into the clearing with the King Penguin slide. Memories, this place held so many of them. Sakura walked over and sat down on the swings. She just sat there, swinging, for a long time before someone came to join her.

Yamazaki sat on the swing next to Sakura. He just sat there for a while, studying the ground before saying anything. "You know, Sakura, I really did try to stop Chiharu from touching the 'couple' topic." Yamazaki started, "I had seen him on T.V., you know who, and I told Chiharu that you might not want to listen. But you know Chiharu." Yamazaki chuckled.

Sakura sighed, "It's quite alright Yamazaki, I know it's not your fault. I know that nobody meant any harm."

"That's just it," Yamazaki replied, "Nobody thinks that they'll actually _hurt_ someone when they're trying to _help_ them. Sometimes the way you picture someone's reaction is much different from the way it really happens."

Sakura thought a while, "Thank you," she said.

"What for?" Yamazaki asked.

"I don't know, but thank you anyway." Sakura said. For some reason, Yamazaki made her feel better.

"You know," Yamazaki said, "Back in the old days, saying sorry meant-"

"Yamazaki!" Sakura cried, "You don't want me to pull a _Chiharu_ and hit you over the head, do you?"

Sakura left the room, everyone in the room fell silent. Suddenly a wave passed through the room, and everyone who did not already know that they caused her to leave sighed. They know what they had done wrong.

"I-I didn't think…" Chiharu whispered sadly. Yamazaki gave her a little hug.

"Poor Sakura," Rika said, "She needs to be rid of her sadness." She looked up at Mr. Terada and back down.

"Maybe we should go and take her out to lunch to show her how sorry we are." Naoko suggested.

"No," Yamazaki said, "I'll go see her." He stood up and went to the door, then stopped and turned around. "Um… where do you think she went?"

Everyone sweat dropped, "Try the Penguin Park." Tomoyo said.

"Oh, he he," Yamazaki said, scratching the back of his head, "okay." He then went out to follow Sakura.

Once he had left, Chiharu sighed, "That's my Yamazaki." She murmured. Everyone left after that, even Chiharu("Yamazaki will know that I went home.").

Tomoyo smiled and turned to Eriol. They were all alone in Sakura's house. Fuijitaka was out on an archeological dig in the Dead Sea, and Touya was at work.

"I'm glad they all learned their mistake." Tomoyo said, "And if not, I can copy this event off of my video camera!" She patted her camera enthusiastically.

"You know," Eriol said, taking the camera and setting it on the coffee table, " I think your obsession with that camera is extremely tempting."

Tomoyo gasped, "Eriol! You have a very dirty mind!" She pretended to look horrified. Eriol grabbed her shoulders and pushed her roughly against the wall.

"Correction," Eriol said, "I have a very _evil_ mind!"

"You're not offended I hope." Tomoyo said, raising an eyebrow.

Eriol was about to kiss her, when he felt Sakura approaching the house. He gave Tomoyo a sly look.

"We shall finish this later." He said, releasing Tomoyo, just as Sakura walked through the door.

"I'm back," Sakura said, shutting the door behind her. "I'm sorry that I just left, but…"

"We understand," Tomoyo said, smiling.

They all sat down and began to talk. Eriol was debating whether or not to tell Sakura about the dark aura. He decided that the sooner she found out, the better.

"Sakura," Eriol interrupted. Sakura looked at him with confusion and interest while Tomoyo looked downward. "I have something to tell you."

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

Eriol took a breath, but before he could say anything, Touya came through the door. All heads turned towards him, and then towards the clock. IT had gotten late without them realizing it.

"Hello Tomoyo, Eriol, kaiju." Touya said, walking into the house.

"Touya, "I'm seventeen!" When will you stop calling me that?" Sakura said exasperatedly.

"Dad sent a package." Touya said, ignoring her words.

"We had better go." Eriol said, both him and Tomoyo standing up.

"Are you sure?" Sakura asked, standing up as well.

"Yes," Eriol replied, "We have some business to take care of at my house."

Sakura saw them to the door before coming to the kitchen table where Touya was.

"Open it!" She cried.

Touya carefully opened the package. Inside was a not on top of something wrapped in papyrus. The note read:

_Dear Touya and Sakura,_

_I hope you are doing well. _

_I am doing well in the Dead Sea, it is a very exciting experience._

_I found these artifacts while digging and I had a feeling you might like them._

_I hope you do like them._

_I love you and take care of yourselves,_

_Love Dad._

Touya pulled out two necklaces. They were both on skinny, silver, chains. One was in the shape of a wing. It was pure silver and studded with rubies. The wing itself was very small, about the size of a silver dollar. This necklace was no doubted for Touya.

The second necklace, for Sakura, was very similar. The only difference was that her pendant was in the shape of a starfish and was studded with pearls.

"Wow," Touya commented, "I wonder what else dad found down in the Dead Sea."

They both put on their necklaces and wrote a letter back to their dad.

VictorianPearl: Soooooooooooo…. What did you think?

Tomoyo: Interesting.

VictorianPearl: Don't worry Tomoyo dear, you didn't let Eriol do anything he wasn't supposed to.

Li: It's so… mushy!

VictorianPearl: Yes, that leaves me to leave a note. When I originally started writing this, it was summer break and I didn't intend to make it to fanfiction.

Li: That explains a lot.

VictorianPearl: I didn't realize how mushy I made it until I read it over. You should be thankful though, this version is cut down!

Tomoyo: x.X I'm scared to think about what the _uncut _version was like.

VictorianPearl: Yes, well…what can I say. I get really bored over the summer.

Li: Apparently.

VictorianPearl: The next chapter should, be up before next Sunday. I have a funeral to go to and I have to help set up. Not only to mention that it's at the Greek Church, they drag every ceremony out as long as possible. Anyway, I will put in an effort. Please review, it would mean a lot. Ja ne.


	2. Returning

VictorianPearl: Hello, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and that you'll have a Happy New Year

VictorianPearl: Hello, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and that you'll have a Happy New Year.

Li: Apologies for the long delay in posting the story. But two funerals and a full house cleaning just cannot be ignored.

VictorianPearl: I hope you all enjoy the second chapter.

Living Metonymy

Chapter 2 Returning

Eriol and Tomoyo were sitting in a tree watching the scene before them.

"So, Fugitaka found the necklaces." Eriol said.

"Is that a good thing?" Tomoyo asked.

"Yes." Eriol replied, "I don't know what they are, but I can feel Clow's magic radiating from them."

"Come on," Tomoyo said, "we shouldn't be watching them."

Eriol then took Tomoyo to his house. She had agreed to help him search Clow's library for some guide or explanation to the necklaces. They were both up in the library searching when they heard crashes from the kitchen below.

"Shouldn't you stop Nakuru and Spinel from destroying your kitchen?" Tomoyo asked Eriol.

"No, it's only Nakuru who's destroying; besides, Spinel learned a cleaning spell to clear all of her messes." Eriol said.

"MASTER! TOMOYOOOOOOOOOO!" Nakuru shouted.

Tomoyo and Eriol glanced at each other. They heard Nakuru bounding up the stairs. The door to the library burst open. Nakuru walked in, carrying a tray with two glasses of lemonade. Spinel dizzily flew in; he appeared to be covered in flour.

"I made lemonade for you!" Nakuru said, setting the tray down on the table.

"Why thank you Nakuru." Eriol said.

"Come on Soupy!" She cried, grabbing Spinel's tale, "Let's get you some SUGAR!" Nakuru bounded out of the library and slammed the door behind her.

Tomoyo giggled, "I hope Spinel will be okay." She said.

ooo

Eriol and Tomoyo spent the whole of the next day searching books for some clue to the necklaces. They wanted to wait until they found some information first and then give Sakura the full story at once.

Unfortunately, time was a very small option. They both agreed that if they found nothing to give them any leads, they would tell Sakura the next day. But if they found information, they would tell her right away.

Tomoyo gave a cry and collapsed on the table. "We've been searching for hours and still nothing!"

Eriol sighed and closed the book he was looking through. It was 7:00 pm, they had started their search at 10:00 am that day. Nine hours of searching! That was not including the time they spent searching the day before.

"Come love," Eriol said, going to Tomoyo, "let's go and get some dinner, stretch our legs, and take a break."

"Okay," Tomoyo said, standing up and stretching.

They told the two guardians that they were going out, they then walked down to one of Tomoeda's restaurants.

ooo

Sakura played with the necklace around her neck, twisting it, looking at it from different angles. She could feel Clow's magic in it, but she didn't know why.

Sakura had tried calling Eriol, but he never picked up. He hadn't called back either. She asked Kero, but he didn't know anything about Clow and the necklace. She was waiting for Yukito to get off work at the university. He would get off at 7:30pm. Sakura looked at the clock, only 30 more minutes and she would find out if Yue knew anything or not.

Sakura had told Touya about the aura of Clow in the necklaces. Because Touya no longer had magic, he couldn't tell anything from it. He had suggested to Sakura to call Yukito after he got off work. Touya had to leave for work at 10:00am. He was excited about a vacation; he was getting a few weeks off after that day and he was going to enjoy it.

Touya was about to enter his senior year at Tomoeda University. He had waited four years before applying. He spent those four years rising up money. In the end, it had all been worth it.

Sakura sat in her room; Kero was glued to the Angelic Layer video game. Only thirty minutes, then she could call Yukito.

ooo

Touya had gotten off work at 7:00pm. Because he was about to have a lengthy holiday, he was required to work a little longer the last day. Afterward, he decided to go and relax at a restaurant and enjoy the beginning of vacation.

Touya decided on a new restaurant in town. It was very nice but not too expensive. Touya walked into the door, he was about to give the waitress his name when he saw Tomoyo and Eriol about to be seated. They caught his eye and waved him over.

Touya sighed, "Well, I might as well join them." He thought, then as an afterthought, "Maybe he'll know about the necklaces." He slid into the booth, sitting across from Eriol and Tomoyo.

"Hello Touya." Tomoyo said, "How was your work today?"

"Tiring," he said with a sigh.

"Ours too," Eriol said.

Touya looked at Eriol, Tomoyo, and then back at Eriol. "What was it that was so tiring?" He asked them.

"We were searching Eriol's library all day for information to the necklaces you and Sakura received." Tomoyo said.

Eriol elbowed her in the side. Tomoyo was confused at first, and then realized her mistake. Touya's eyes narrowed a bit.

"How do you know about the necklaces; Sakura told me she couldn't get a hold of you." Touya said.

Eriol cleared his throat, "Well, you see-" but he was saved by the waitress who had come to take their orders. While Tomoyo and Touya were ordering, Eriol thought of something. Eriol could have smacked his head in stupidity. He hadn't come across some huge conclusion, but he thought of something that made him feel stupid.

He, Tomoyo, Syaoran, and Sakura were not going to be the only ones involved in this new evil. Touya would be included, then there were the guardians and he had a feeling there was somebody else.

"So, how did you know about those necklaces?" Eriol was jolted back into the conversation with Touya's question.

"Umm…we kind of watched you open the package through the window." Tomoyo said sheepishly.

"You _spied _on me and Sakura?" Touya asked, somewhat shocked. He always knew that those two were cracked.

"I wouldn't call it _spying_," Eriol replied mistily, "I would call it 'watching-a-scene-one-is-not-apart-of'."

"Besides," Tomoyo said after the look Touya gave Eriol, "Eriol felt Clow's aura from the box, he wanted to know what it was."

"Did you ever think of _asking_ what was in the box? Touya asked, "That is always a very effective method. Much better than watching someone's business with your nose pressed against their window!"

"Actually, we were in a tree." Eriol told him.

Touya was now wondering just _how_ Sakura ended up with friends like these when their dinner arrived.

ooo

"I can't believe it!" Tomoyo wailed. "Touya probably thinks we're nutters, he'll never let me see kawaii Sakura again!"

Eriol and Tomoyo had just gotten home from dinner. It had been far from smooth. At least nobody could talk while eating.

"You over exaggerate." Eriol said.

Tomoyo sent him a little glare, "You're not helping." She told him.

Eriol sighed, "Look, Touya isn't going to stop you from seeing Sakura, and he probably still thinks your brain is in tact." Eriol gave Tomoyo a little hug.

"It's all the reading," she said, "It's finally getting to me." Tomoyo fell into a dizzy spell, clinging to Eriol's shirt.

"Come on," Eriol said, picking her up into his arms, "let's get you to bed." He took her up the stairs and laid her to sleep in his bed. "Goodnight love," he kissed her forehead and went back to the library to keep searching.

ooo

Sakura hung up the phone sadly. Yue know nothing about the necklaces. Sakura had taken a little nap; she meant to get up at 7:30 pm but had accidentally overslept and got up at 8:30 pm instead.

"Stupid Kero didn't wake me up." She muttered. Kero was still glued to Angelic Layer.

Sakura had called Yukito and asked to talk to Yue. She told him about the necklaces. He did not know anything but told her to show him the necklaces the next time she saw him.

Sakura heard the door close, Touya was home. She walked downstairs, "Hello onii-chan. how was work?"

"Fine," Touya replied, "I've already had dinner, so you'll have to make your own kaiju."

"Touya, I'm _seventeen_! I think kaiju is a little outdated." Sakura said, rolling her eyes.

"I saw Eriol and Tomoyo at the restaurant." Touya said, ignoring his sister's comment, as usual.

"You did?" Sakura asked, her eyes widening.

"Yeah, and I asked them about the necklaces." Touya replied dryly.

"Is something wrong?" Sakura wondered.

"Yeah, something is definitely wrong." Touya said, "They both already knew that we had the necklaces because they were both sitting in a tree _spying_ on us when we opened them up!"

Sakura looked at him a little blankly, "I can picture Eriol spying on me, but it's a little hard to see Tomoyo doing it."

Touya gaped at her, "You mean to say you don't _mind_ your friends spying on you?" Touya was now debating whether or not he should put bars on Sakura's window.

"Well," Sakura pondered, "Eriol spied on me all the time while I was transforming the cards, and Tomoyo always did like to video tape me."

"Anyway," Touya said, trying to get off the topic, "Eriol and Tomoyo have been searching his library but have found nothing."

Sakura sighed, Syaoran might have known, but there was no way of asking him at the moment. She fumbled with the necklace; maybe she wouldn't have to wait long to ask him, and maybe he would come home soon.

ooo

The next day was a slow one. Eriol and Tomoyo searched as long as they could stand in the library. Sakura went onto the internet to see if she could find any information. Both search parties failed at finding anything.

"We have to tell them Tomoyo."

"Can't we look a little longer?"

"You're not even looking, you're only pretending to so that I won't get mad at you!"

Eriol and Tomoyo were arguing, Eriol wanted to go and tell Sakura and Touya about the new evil. Tomoyo, on the other hand, wanted to continue "searching".

"Please Eri-kun?" Tomoyo asked with wide eyes, using his nickname.

Eriol sighed and looked at the clock, which read 4:40pm. "We'll keep looking and then go to Sakura's house at 5:00." Eriol decided.

"HANYAN!" Tomoyo cried, giving Eriol a bear hug.

"Tomoyo!" Eriol choked, "I can't breathe!"

"Oops!" Tomoyo said, releasing him from her bear hug.

ooo

Sakura was sitting on her bed brushing her hair. She had decided to have a training lesson with The Fight. Once she was done she had taken a well-deserved shower.

The doorbell rang.

"COMING!" Sakura cried, running to the door. Touya had gotten there first though. When Sakura came down the stairs, Touya was standing with the door open and Eriol and Tomoyo standing outside. He was debating on whether he should shut them out, when Sakura pushed him out of the way.

"Hello Eriol, Tomoyo," Sakura said cheerfully, "come in."

Sakura seated them at the table while Touya went to go relax on the couch, listening to their conversation.

"Did you guys find any information about the necklaces?" Sakura asked hopefully.

They both shook their heads. "Sorry, we didn't come to talk about that." Eriol said.

"Oh?" Sakura questioned.

"We wanted to tell you about an approaching evil." Eriol said, "A dark aura is coming to Tomoeda. I don't know what it is but… It's going to involve all of us."

"But-" Sakura stuttered, "I haven't _felt _an aura."

"You haven't looked." Eriol said simply, "I think your mind has been a little occupied lately." He gave Sakura a wink, which caused her to blush. "Try searching for it now."

Sakura nodded, a little unsure but closed her eyes and concentrated nonetheless. Now that she was searching, she could feel a dark presence, but something was-

_Ring_

The phone snapped Sakura back to reality. "I'll get it." She said, she would try searching the presence again later. She picked up the phone.

"Hello?" What Sakura heard made her gasp.

"Sakura, it's Syaoran. I've just arrived at the airport, can you pick me up?

ooo

VictorianPearl: Voila! There you have it. And because disclaimers seem to be in style, I think I'll say one.

Li: Victorian Pearl does not own the characters of Cardcaptor Sakura, please do no sue because that would make her extremely unhappy.

Victorian Pearl: Well done, I'll see you next time.

Both: Ja ne!


	3. Reunion

VictorianPearl: Isn't it amazing, I'm getting this chapter up so fast

VictorianPearl: Isn't it amazing, I'm getting this chapter up so fast.

Sakura: We're all very proud of you.

VictorianPearl: I knew I could do it if I put my mind to it.

Tomoyo: Why is it that I'm so thick in this fiction, I'm a bit OOC don't you think?

VictorianPearl: I guess that you and Sakura have been hanging out so long that you rubbed off on her and she rubbed off on you!

Sakura: I think I take offense to that.

VictorianPearl: Enjoy the fiction!

Living Metonymy

Chapter 3 Reunion

For Syaoran, the next three days were too slow for his liking. He wanted to get to Tomoeda and see Sakura.

Syaoran and Meiling, being so anxious, had everything packed by the first day. Meiling was glad to be going back to her friends; she was a little lonely being the only girl her age around.

For the next two nights, Meiling would sneak out of her house very late at night and sneak into Syaoran's room through his window. They would spend hours just talking about their old life in Tomoeda.

It was nice to talk to someone, open up. She talked a little differently at night than she did in the day. She was less determined, a little more vulnerable. Morning would come all too soon and Meiling would sneak back to her own room.

Meiling's parents, sorry to say, were not very sad about Meiling leaving. They saw it as more of a burden being lifted off of their shoulders. Meiling knew this but clung to the thought that someone _would_ care about her leaving. That person was her aunt Yelan.

Syaoran walked up to his mother. "I'm sorry mother that I have to leave, but-"

"I understand," Yelan said, completely understanding the situation. "You are in love with Sakura, the girl who came here so many years ago. You are going back to her."

"Yes mother," Syaoran said, blushing.

Yelan Li smiled, her son had grown up to be a very noble gentleman, and she wasn't even responsible for most of his acting this way. The girl, Sakura, she was the one that had changed him so. Yelan knew her son was leaving for a good cause. She also knew that he could not and would not feel the evil magic following him until he had reached Tomoeda.

On the second and last night that Meiling visited Syaoran, he could tell that something had gone wrong. Meiling looked shaken. Syaoran had only seen her look shaken once before that time.

Syaoran did not ask her what was wrong. He knew something was amiss. Meiling knew that Syaoran knew and was grateful that he did not ask. She didn't want to talk about what had happened to her.

Although Meiling did not tell Syaoran what was wrong, he could pretty much guess. She had a talk with her parents, a "last night home" talk. If Syaoran knew Meiling's parents, he knew that they had probably done their best to make her feel as horrible as humanly possible. It was a night that would haunt her in the future.

Syaoran and Meiling loaded up their luggage into the cab the next morning. He looked over his shoulder at his family. His mother and sisters were waving him goodbye, all of his sisters were crying. They all told him that he had better come back and visit as soon as he had Sakura. This remark caused him to blush.

Meiling's parents were not there. Yelan Li came and gave Meiling and Syaoran a hug goodbye. Even Wei came by to see them off.

Syaoran and Meiling gave one last wave before getting into the taxi; they didn't look back. The trip to the airport was quick. It seemed a blur, and then suddenly, they were on the plane taking off.

"So Syaoran, where do you have us staying?" Meiling asked her cousin.

"In the apartment I stayed in the last time." Syaoran replied, "You're down the hallway from me, so if anyone tries to pull anything…"

Meiling gave a laugh. "Did I _not_ train with you? Was I not the only one that could beat you?"

"You could not!" Syaoran said, giving her a well-trained cold look. "Besides, I didn't mean just _anyone_. I'm talking about magical forces that might be there."

"I know Syaoran," Meiling said, rolling her eyes, "I was only joking." Of course Syaoran wouldn't know a joke if it jumped out in front of him naked.

The plane landed and they got their luggage. Syaoran _could_ have called a cab, but he didn't think that he could wait. He went over to a pay phone and collect called Sakura's house.

The phone began to ring. Syaoran prayed that Sakura would pick up and not Touya. The phone was picked up; "Hello?" rang Sakura's soft voice.

Syaoran smiled, "Sakura, it's Syaoran. I've just arrived at the airport, can you pick me up?"

Syaoran held his breath, waiting for her to respond. On the other line, Sakura couldn't believe she wasn't dreaming. He was back! "Of-of course Syaoran, I'll come right now. Do you care if I bring Tomoyo and Eriol with me?"

Like Syaoran could ever bring himself to say no to her, "Of course not, I'll be happy to see them." _But happier to see you._

"I'll see you in about fifteen minutes." Sakura said.

She hung up the phone, "We're getting Syaoran." She announced, running up into her room to grab her purse.

"But Sakura," Tomoyo called up the stairs, "It takes at least thirty minutes to get to the airport!"

"Not today!" Sakura said, coming back down the stairs, "Let's go," she was opening the door.

"I'm coming too!" Touya announced, getting off of the couch. "I'm going to make sure that gaki doesn't pull anything."

"Me too!" Kero said, popping out of Sakura's purse.

The ride to the airport was dangerous. Sakura was a safe driver but the way she was driving to the airport made even _Eriol_ frightened. Tomoyo was clutching onto the seat for dear life.

Touya, despite being in the front seat, didn't seem to notice too much. He and Kero were talking of things they would do to "the gaki" if he ever hurt Sakura.

Sakura heard nothing, she hardly saw anything either. All that went through her head was Syaoran. A thought, images, memories of him, all of it was there. No more waiting, he was here now.

When they arrived, Sakura ran into the airport, the others close behind. She looked around; he had to be here somewhere. Her eyes met a dark pair and she knew it was him.

They both stood there, staring at each other. Sakura couldn't believe how much he had changed. He was very tall, he had the same deep eyes and messy hair but he was much more handsome than she remembered.

Syaoran saw her, so much more beautiful in real life than in the picture. She was still Sakura and yet she had become much more, she had gained wisdom in her eyes.

Sakura could stand it no longer; she ran to Syaoran and jumped into his arms just like after she had caught The Void. Syaoran caught her and immediately put his lips to hers in a kiss. It was their first kiss and the most wonderful thing in the world.

Syaoran pulled her close to him, finally being able to hold her, kiss her, it was what he had worked for. He could stay in Tomoeda forever and she would never leave his arms.

They stayed in the middle of the lobby, kissing, they didn't care that many saw or watched them. Even Syaoran's thoughts didn't come across Touya.

Poor Touya did nothing but stand and watch. He knew that the gaki loved his sister and he also knew that he would never ever hurt her. He might as well get used to it.

Touya saw a figure approaching Tomoyo and Eriol; it was the gaki's cousin. He caught her eye and she gave him a message. It was simple and clear; Touya wasn't the only one loosing someone special to him.

Meiling watched her cousin catch one of her best friends and kiss her. _Finally_, Meiling was happy for him. She was officially over him and she had only friendly feelings for him. _But still._ Meiling caught Touya's eye. She saw all of his sadness and hurt for having to give up his only sister. She recognized his look as one that she once held in her own. She let him know that he wasn't completely alone.

"Meiling!" Tomoyo called.

Meiling's head snapped back toward the direction she had been going. She saw Eriol and Tomoyo standing together near the exit. Meiling ran and gave Tomoyo a hug. "It's good to see you Tomoyo, Eriol."

"It's good to see you too!" Tomoyo replied. She pulled back from her hug, "You are going to be enrolled at our school aren't you?"

"You bet, Syaoran already enrolled us both." Meiling said, smiling. "We're staying in the same apartment complex that we were in the last time we were here."

"SAKURA, GAKI! Let's GO already!" Touya shouted, couldn't they at least wait until after he was out of their sight to kiss?

Both Syaoran and Sakura returned to reality. They simply smiled and grabbed a piece of luggage before walking out.

"Hello Meiling, good to see you." Sakura dreamily said as she passed Meiling going out the exit.

Syaoran and Meiling's luggage was loaded up into the trunk. Sakura was about to get into the drivers seat when Touya stopped her.

"We hardly made it here alive. I would like to make it _back_ in one piece." Touya said.

Sakura simply nodded, she was grateful. Now she was able to sit next to Syaoran.

Touya was going to make Syaoran sit in the front seat, but he wasn't _that_ cruel. He dragged Eriol up instead.

Unfortunately for Eriol, he was the one who had to explain everything to Kero about what had happened in the airport. Sakura and Syaoran were so absorbed in each other that they didn't hear another word passing through the car.

Tomoyo gave Meiling the fill in of what had happened since she last came to Tomoeda. Meiling was so happy. She was finally going to be able to live the life she had started seven years ago. She would be surrounded with friends and people who loved her. What more could a girl want?

Once back in Tomoeda, Touya drove Syaoran and Meiling to the apartment. Sakura was surprised that he agreed to help them unpack their things.

Touya went to Syaoran's apartment so that he could have a long talk about the rules that applied here. Kero and Eriol had the pleasure of tagging along while Tomoyo and Sakura went to Meiling's apartment to help unpack.

There was already some furniture in the rooms. Syaoran had been on top of things. Sakura and Tomoyo rearranged the furniture while Meiling put away her clothes and such. It didn't take long.

"We _have_ to throw you and Syaoran a 'Welcome' party!" Tomoyo told Meiling. The girls were sitting in a circle on the floor in the den.

"We can invite all of our old school friends, Yukito, and maybe even Touya will come." Tomoyo continued, "I was thinking about having it at my house."

"Let's have it at my house." Sakura said.

"Hu?" Tomoyo asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Sakura said.

"I can guess why." Meiling said, elbowing her, "You want Syaoran to stay as long as possible…maybe even spent the night."

Sakura blushed, "I don't want to do anything bad, I just want to spend more time with him."

"Sure, that's the response everyone says." Meiling said, rolling her eyes.

"So Meiling," Tomoyo said, "are you ready to fight?"

"What do you mean?" Meiling asked.

"A new evil is approaching Tomoeda after our dear Cardcaptor Sakura!" Tomoyo said enthusiastically.

"I'll kick its butt back to wherever it came from." Meiling cried.

"Actually, it came from China." Sakura said softly.

"It what?" But before anyone could answer Meiling, the guys walked into the apartment.

"You know, some people try knocking." Tomoyo said.

"Then again, some don't." Eriol said back.

"Come on girls," Touya directed to Tomoyo and Sakura. "It's late, we have to head home."

Sakura and Tomoyo stood up to leave, but Syaoran came to Sakura. "Will you meet me at the Penguin Park tomorrow at eleven in the morning?"

"Of course," she replied, giving him a kiss before leaving.

Once they were gone, Syaoran fell back onto the couch. "I can't believe it Meiling." He said, "We're finally back." Syaoran felt a weird tickling in the back of his mind, but he couldn't seem to figure out what it was. "Meiling, have you felt kind of different since we've come back?"

Meiling thought about what Tomoyo and Sakura had said before they were interrupted. "Yes, it does seem a little different."

Unfortunately, neither of them would know anything until the next day.

OOO

It was eleven in the morning the next day. Sakura entered the little clearing in the Penguin Park. This was, by far, her favorite place to go when she wanted to be alone. Back when Syaoran's leaving was still fresh in her heart, she would come to the park often to be alone. It was a place that seemed to hold within it its own magic.

"Sakura?"

Sakura turned and saw Syaoran Li standing off to the side of the King Penguin slide. Her eyes filled with tears. "Oh Syaoran," she whispered.

Sakura then did a repeat of the day before. She ran jumped into Syaoran's waiting arms. Syaoran caught her in his arms and showered kisses upon her lips. This was, after all, the first time they had been alone together in seven years.

Syaoran picked Sakura up and spun her around in circles, both of them laughing. When he set her down, Sakura had tears streaming down her face.

"It's been such a long time." She said.

Syaoran whipped away all of her tears. "I have something to do before anything else." He said. Sakura tilted her head to the side in a questioning manner. "Would you like to dance?"

It was a rhetorical question. Syaoran snapped his fingers and invisible instruments started playing. A look of wonder and confusion entered Sakura's face.

"How did you learn _this_ kind of magic?" Sakura asked.

Syaoran smiled, "I got my wish."

This caused Sakura to become even more confused. Before she had a chance to say anything, Syaoran grabbed her hands and began to dance her across the clearing, this left Sakura gaping.

"I didn't know you could dance." She said.

"I didn't know that you could possibly become more beautiful." Syaoran told her.

Sakura blushed and looked away. Syaoran caught her chin in his hand and forced her to look up at him. Sakura didn't take her eyes off of him until he bent down to kiss her again. Suddenly, Syaoran pulled back and the music stopped

"Syaoran?" Sakura asked, looking at him with worried eyes.

"A presence," he said, looking into the trees, "a dark presence is very close." He brought Sakura close to him.

"It followed you from Hong Kong." Sakura said.

"It what?" Syaoran looked down at her, startled. A presence followed him from Hong Kong without his notice?

"Eriol noticed the presence coming first." Sakura continued. This caused Syaoran to growl a bit.

Sakura giggled, "Oh!" She cried.

"What is it?" Syaoran asked as she pulled something out of her shirt. It was a starfish necklace.

"Dad sent me and Touya each one of these." Sakura said as Syaoran held the little starfish. "Clow's presence is in them but we don't know what they are."

"I've seen this somewhere." Syaoran said.

It was Sakura's turn to be surprised. "Where?"

Syaoran looked at it hard, turning it over and around. "I don't remember but it was recently." He put the necklace down to her chest. Sakura clasped her hands over Syaoran's.

Shrouded in shadow, a dark presence watched them. It was bidding its time. It would not attack the little wolf …yet. It would draw the wolf out first. The first target of plan would be Takashi Yamazaki.

OOO

VictorianPearl: Wow, I think that's the longest one yet. Although, it's still not very long.

Kero: Tune in next week for the next chapter of Living Metonymy.


	4. The Shadow

VictorianPearl: I've enjoyed the three day weekend.

Sakura: I am proud to announce that finals are OVER!

VictorianPearl: I studied sooooooooo much; I thought my brain was going to fry. I did spend some time writing up some more of this story though.

Tomoyo: So after two weeks of waiting…

Sakura: She's finally posting.

Tomoyo: Hey, Victorian, where's Li?

Victorian Pearl: Good question.

Living Metonymy Chapter 4

The Shadow

A breeze lightly blew on Sakura's face. She was sitting on a swing, being pushed by Syaoran. The time was flying by and neither wanted to leave yet.

Sakura turned her head around to smile at Syaoran, who smiled back. She turned to face the front when a large pulse of pain entered her head.

Sakura let out a cry and fell forward off of the swing onto her knees, clutching her head. Visions began to painfully show themselves to her. She cried out, falling to the ground. She never made it; Syaoran caught her just in time. He steadied her in front of him, both of them on their knees.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" Syaoran called out to her. He placed his hands on Sakura's head over her own. Tears were streaming down her face.

"Hurts…" she whispered.

"It's okay," Syaoran said, gently putting his forehead against hers. "Just concentrate on pushing the pain away, move it away."

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut in concentration, causing more tears to leak out. Syaoran felt her rapid breathing become more and more normal. He opened his eyes to see Sakura, somewhat calmly in front of him.

"I'm glad you're all right." Syaoran said, relieved.

He whipped away Sakura's remaining tears and brought her into his arms. That seemed to snap Sakura back to reality. She gasped, causing Syaoran to pull away.

"Syaoran," she said with wide eyes, "its Yamazaki, he's in horrible danger!"

"Yamazaki?" Syaoran asked, "But…how?"

"Just trust me on this one." Sakura said, pulling Syaoran and herself to their feet.

OOO

"Thank you Takashi, I had the most wonderful time." Chiharu said, smiling up at Takashi.

They were sitting at the edge of the lake. Takashi and Chiharu had just begun to conclude their date. The sun was high but the lake was deserted.

Chiharu turned her attention back to the lake, still smiling. The morning had been so wonderful, the date, the company and…was it just her or was Takashi unusually quiet?

Chiharu blinked, her gaze never leaving the lake. Come to think of it, Takashi should have started lying about something by this time.

"Takashi?" She half whispered, uncertain.

Takashi let out a deep chuckle that was not his own. Chiharu's insides squirmed. Something was definitely wrong. Her gaze was still on the lake.

"Dear Miharu, it's a pity." A deep voice cooed, causing Chiharu's breath to catch.

She turned slowly to face who she thought was Takashi. She took a fearful glance at him. His eyes glowed red and his face had changed from a kind one to an evil one. He was so close that she could feel his coldness radiating off onto her. This was most definitely not Takashi. She let out a scream.

The person who was supposed to be Takashi brought a dead hand forward and clamped it over Chiharu's mouth. Chiharu immediately feinted. The being leaned forward, about to finish its business, when something hard slammed into it.

Syaoran had thrown himself against the being. The thing hurtled through the air and landed in the lake. This seemed to infuriate him.

"Watery!" A flying Sakura cried, slamming her wand onto the watery card.

A giant wave rose up out of the lake and smashed into the being, washing him up onto the shore.

The being raised partially up, it growled at Sakura and Syaoran before executing an attack. It was so sudden that Sakura and Syaoran hardly had time to dodge it.

The being rapidly pulled itself up out of Takashi. It looked like a black demon with many extendable arms. It lashed its arms at the two magicians, almost penetrating them.

Syaoran was taken by surprise. He concentrated on dodging the lashing arms. They would shoot for him, miss, loop around, and come in a furry of attacks.

Syaoran tired slicing off the arms. This caused the creature to reel in pain. It got extremely angry and brought its full forces on Syaoran, tying to beat him down.

On the opposite side of the creature was Sakura. The thing seemed to be toying with Sakura, who was flying, rather than trying to beat her down. The arms circled her, cut her off, causing Sakura to spin in the air and become dizzy.

Sakura grew frustrated, she knew perfectly well what the creature was doing and she didn't like it. No matter whether the enemy was a human, magic, or monster, they all thought she was an easy target. She always proved them wrong.

"Sword!" Sakura called, slamming her staff onto the Sword card.

She sliced her sword downward, sending a lethal blow and cutting off many arms. But no matter how many she cut off, more always seemed to reinforce.

Sakura figured out soon enough that the arms would not stop coming. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Syaoran dodging and slicing the arms as well.

"Syaoran!" She called, "We have to use more magic, try to use your magic!"

"God of water!" Syaoran called, summoning the dragon god of water.

The evil creature used its many legs to push itself up. Its body missed the water but the dragon managed to drench all of its arms.

"Freeze!" Sakura yelled.

The legs on the creature were frozen up to their attachments on the body. The legs snapped off and the creature's body dropped to the ground.

The creature stood, screeching at Sakura and Syaoran, only with two arms and lets. It then turned and ran.

"Come on!" Syaoran cried, grabbing Sakura's hand and running for the creature.

The creature turned and shot out a black tar at Sakura. Syaoran pushed himself onto her, causing them both to drop to the ground. The tar passed over them and landed on the grass; it began to eat it away. The two young sorcerers scrambled up. They made to go after the creature, but it had already disappeared.

Sakura clutched her wand; this was very scary. Poor Yamazaki was most likely hurt now. Chiharu was unconscious too, was she harmed?

Syaoran ran over to Yamazaki and Chiharu. He stopped short when he realized Sakura wasn't following. He turned and saw her, still clutching her wand. She looked at him and slowly walked over to him.

"Are they alright?" Sakura whispered, looking at Yamazaki and Chiharu's unconscious forms.

Syaoran knelt beside his two friends. He put either of his hands on Chiharu and Yamazaki. He concentrated his energy, pouring healing magic into his friends.

He took his hands off, trying to overcome a bit of dizziness. He looked up to see Sakura kneeling next to him.

"Sakura?" He asked; she looked so melancholy. It was as if a sense of loss had overcome her.

Sakura put one of her hands on Chiharu. She stayed there a while before bothering to speak.

"It looks like this creature is going to keep using our friends." She said softly, "I just hope their lives are not greatly afflicted with." She looked like she wanted to say more, but she thought the better of it.

Syaoran gazed at her sadly. His attention was drawn to her arm.

"Sakura, you're bleeding." He said, gently bringing her arm to him.

"Huh?" She was so taken with her friends that she didn't even notice her bleeding arm.

Syaoran placed his warm hands on either side of the wound. He softly chanted, pouring more of his magic into healing. The wound successfully closed, but he didn't let go.

Sakura looked up at him, almost questioningly. Syaoran brought a hand up to her face.

"I came from Hong Kong, a place where I had to work extremely hard, hoping against hope that my return to Tomoeda would be a peaceful one." Syaoran started.

Sakura's breathing began to labor, what was he trying to say?

Syaoran caressed Sakura's cheek with his thumb. "We're going to have to fight this together; I'm more than ready, are you?"

Sakura gave a small smile, "I'm surprised you had to ask." She answered.

"Com on," Syaoran said, helping Sakura up, "let's get Takashi and Chiharu home."

OOO

"WHAT!" Five different voices screamed.

Sakura and Syaoran cringed. Tomoyo, Kero, Eriol, Touya, and Meiling were staring at them with wide eyes.

"Are you sure it was a good idea to tell them?" Syaoran mumbled into Sakura's ear.

"So let me get this strait," Kero started, "thiyes…_thing_ possessed Yamazaki and attacked Chiharu? Not only that, it also came out and attacked you two as well?"

Syaoran and Sakura nodded. Kero put his hand to his chin, thinking deeply about the situation.

"I don't think I know what kind of monster attacked you." Kero said, "This was not in Clow's book."

Something seemed to click in Syaoran and Eriol's minds, something about Clow's book.

"I have that book!" They both said.

Syaoran glared at Eriol, who simply ignored him.

"I had a specific book that was much more authentic than the ones in my library." Eriol said informingly.

"Yes Eriol, you _had_ that book. I am now its owner." Syaoran said, a little triumph leaking through his voice.

Something then clicked in _Sakura's_ mind. Her face lit up immediately.

"That's it Syaoran, _that's_ the book!" Sakura said, jumping a little.

Syaoran gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"Come on Syaoran, can't you keep up with the conversation?" Touya mocked.

Touya and Syaoran shared a small glare before Sakura jumped in.

"You said that you got your wish. That book is a book of Clow's that was on your wish list right?" Sakura asked hopefully.

Syaoran smiled, she always looked so beautiful with that look in her eyes.

"Plan on answering any time soon?" Kero asked.

Syaoran sent a small glare at Kero. He hadn't realized that he was dazed again.

"Yes Sakura, the book is the one that was on my wish list."

"That's where you saw my necklace," Sakura said excitedly, "you saw it in you book!"

"I suppose you're right." Syaoran said, summoning the book into his hands. He moved to sit at the table as everyone else gathered around as well.

Syaoran opened the book and flipped through the pages. He eventually found what he was looking for.

"_Necklaces of Clow_: _Two necklaces were made by Clow for two descendants to inherit. Although protection purposes are not confirmed, it is believed that their magic is supposed to protect the bearers." _Syaoran read.

"Oh yes!" Kero cried, "I remember now, those necklaces are supposed to be light wielders. They are supposed to repel the darkness."

"You spoke a little late." Syaoran said, waving a hand at the creature.

Kero suddenly turned serious, "Syaoran, what's on your hand?"

Syaoran looked at Kero and then down at his hands. There was dried blood along the edges of his palms. It wasn't just red blood either; there was a purple colored blood there as well.

"Blood," Syaoran said.

Kero flew over and scraped the purple blood into a small capsule he had summoned.

"I am going to run tests on this blood. Sakura, do you mind?"

Sakura sighed, "No, I'll be right there to use Create to make a lab area." She threw a look behind her before advancing up the stairs.

"Lab area?" Syaoran questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Kero is going to fully examine the blood sample in a laboratory created by The Create." Tomoyo filled in.

"How are Yamazaki and Chiharu now?" Meiling asked, changing the subject.

"They'll be okay," Syaoran said, "Sakura and I used our magic to heal Takashi. Chiharu was unharmed, but was a little shaken.

"Such is the was of evil." Eriol said, "They use the innocent for their own purposes."

"Why does that sound familiar?" Syaoran muttered.

Tomoyo glanced from Eriol, to Syaoran, and then back to Eriol again. "I don't know about you guys, but I think I'm going to head home."

"I'll walk you to the car; however, shouldn't you tell Sakura goodbye before leaving?" Eriol said.

"I'll call her." Tomoyo said simply, walking out of the house with Eriol behind her.

After the couple left, Touya turned his attention to Syaoran. "I think you had better follow like suit."

Syaoran glared, "I certainly will, but only after saying goodbye to your sister!"

Before Touya could say anything, Syaoran jumped form his seat and dashed up the stairs. Touya was going to follow when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Meiling, shaking her head.

"He's only going to tell her goodbye. The reason he ran up the stairs so quickly was just to spite you."

"Only to spite me?" Touya asked, eyes narrowing.

Meiling shook her head again, "He wants to see your sister more than anything. He didn't want you to make him leave before saying goodbye."

"I don't doubt what you say, but I still don't think I can trust him."

Upstairs, Syaoran's mouth dropped open when he opened Sakura's door. Her once clean and open room had many lab tables set up in it. Kero had on a pair of goggles and a plastic apron. He was carefully examining a purple substance in a beaker.

Sakura shook her head and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

"It's actually very interesting, the whole lab project." Sakura said, giggling.

Syaoran smiled, "Yes, it is. The reason I came up here was to tell you goodbye."

Sakura's face fell. "Do you have to go so soon?"

"Unfortunately, your brother wants me gone." Syaoran said.

Sakura sighed, upset that her brother was making Syaoran leave so early.

"Would you like to meet me later for dinner?" Syaoran asked.

Sakura's face lit up, "Of course Syaoran!"

Syaoran bent down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll call you later to give you more information.

Sakura saw him and Meiling both to the door. She was excited about the night yet to come.

OOO

VictorianPearl: I hope you liked it, please review!


	5. Sugar Phosphate

VictorianPearl: Hello to all

VictorianPearl: Hello to all.

Li: Where the heck have you been? It's been three weeks since we've seen any trace of you.

VictorianPearl: Same said.

Meiling: Okay, it is obvious that you both have been mysteriously absent. Enough said, let's just get on with it.

Li: I would like to apologize for VictorianPearl for this chapter's quality. It is not the best one she's written.

VictorianPearl: And because disclaimers are in style, I think I'll type my own. I do not own CCS…which all of you are aware of.

Meiling: Someday we'll get somewhere in conversation.

Living Metonymy

Chapter 5 Sugar Phosphate

"Tomoyo, what am I going to do?" Sakura cried, falling back on the bed.

"Just calm down Sakura, it will be alright."

Sakura had come to Tomoyo's house. She had arrived at 5:30pm to start getting prepared for her 8:00pm date. Although dressing up and going out wasn't usually exciting, this was an exception.

"How can I do this Tomoyo?" Sakura asked, "I'm going on a _date_! Not only have I never been on a date before, but, that _thing_ is out there and my room has been turned into a personal lab!"

"Shut up and sit on this chair." Tomoyo commanded, pulling out a chair. "You're making up excuses for yourself. Now, come over here so that I can curl your hair."

Sakura picked herself up from the bed and plopped onto Tomoyo's chair. Tomoyo picked up a hot curling iron and began her work. One hour thirty minutes and one can of hairspray later, Tomoyo was done.

Sakura looked up into the mirror. Her hair looked really pretty. She had never had it curly before. She suddenly felt more confident about herself.

"Sakura, you're so…KAWAII! Great job Tomoyo!" Tomoyo congratulated herself.

Sakura sweat dropped, Tomoyo could get so weird sometimes. "Thanks Tomoyo."

"Come now," Tomoyo pulled Sakura up, "let's get you into a dress and some shoes!"

Tomoyo had Sakura wearing a black tube top dress that came above her knees. It had pink polka dots all over it; she had on pink shoes to match. Although the outfit was cute, Sakura found herself crossing her arms across her chest.

"Mou…Tomoyo, don't you think this dress is a little…_dangerous_?"

"Of course not," Tomoyo replied, "I'm sure Syaoran will love it." She winked.

This comment caused Sakura to flush. "Don't say that, it will only make me even more nervous than I already am."

After makeup and final touchups, there was the ring of the doorbell. A maid came up and told the girls that a young man was downstairs waiting for them.

Tomoyo walked down the stairs, a good distance from Sakura. Sakura saw Syaoran in the doorway and found herself blushing. Who wouldn't be? He was dressed in khaki pants with a white shirt, his sleeves were half rolled up. He wore a green tie loosely around his neck.

Although Sakura didn't see the way Syaoran reacted to her, Tomoyo did. She saw his body stiffen and his hands clench at his sides. She couldn't believe she had forgotten to bring her video camera with her.

"H-hello Syaoran, I'm glad to see you." Sakura said.

"You as well." Syaoran said, walking to the stairs and taking Sakura's arm in his. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes," Sakura nodded, and then turned to Tomoyo. "Thanks for everything Tomoyo, I'll see you later."

Tomoyo waved goodbye as the young couple walked out of the door. She was happy that they would be getting some more time together. She walked back up to her room to grab her purse.

I think I'll go and visit Chiharu and Takashi. I'll stop by the store and buy them a treat on the way there. After all, they never did anything to deserve getting hurt like that.

OOO

Sakura walked outside with Syaoran. She soon stopped and stood gaping. There was a white limousine parked outside of Tomoyo's house.

"Mou Syaoran, you didn't have to do this!" Sakura said.

Syaoran smiled, "I thought it would be nice. Anything for you Sakura."

Sakura blushed; she wasn't used to such things as this. She allowed Syaoran to open the door for her as she stepped inside. Once Syaoran was inside, the limo took off.

"Where are we going?" Sakura asked.

"It's a surprise." Syaoran said.

Sakura smiled. "I like surprises."

"Then I can guarantee you'll love this one."

They were in the limo for a very long period of time. Sakura shuffled through her mind, thinking of all the places Syaoran would take her to. She couldn't think of a single place that would take so long to get to. After Sakura stepped out of the car, her mouth dropped open for the second time.

They had been driven to the ocean spot that they camped at when they were kids. It was beautiful. The full moon was shinning brightly, lighting up the entire beach. The waves gently splashed to the shore. The warm atmosphere wasn't at all uncomfortable for our short-dressed Sakura. On the beach was a table with two chairs. On the table were two candles and silver plates.

"Oh my gosh Syaoran." Sakura whispered. "You did all of this?"

"I had a little help." He said, smiling.

Syaoran lead Sakura to the little table on the beach. It was the most wonderful and romantic date that Sakura had ever been on. Not to mention, the only date Sakura had ever been on. Seeing Syaoran smile so often was just enough for her.

Once diner was over, Syaoran stood and asked for Sakura's hand. "Would you like to dance, fair maiden?"

Sakura giggled, "I'm surprised you had to ask."

Syaoran took her hand and brought her up. He, once again, commanded the invisible instruments to play. The music was strung with sweet violins and harps. Syaoran was sweeping Sakura around the beach like they were on a cloud.

Sakura felt herself getting spun, twirled, dipped, and so much more. She was getting dizzy, but she didn't know if it was from all of the dancing or from Syaoran. On the last dip that he performed, he came down and captured Sakura's sweet lips.

"Wow," Sakura breathed after being lifted up. "Syao, when did you become so romantically correct?

"That will remain my secret." Syaoran said, pulling Sakura close for a slow dance.

"Mou Syaoran, you're no fun." She said, resting her head on his chest.

The dancing went on with the night. Sakura eventually kicked off her shoes and went dancing in the sand. She also went running across the foam in the ocean, laughing during the whole of it. She and Syaoran were so absorbed in what they were doing that it was only natural that they didn't see the oncoming attack.

Sakura was spinning around on the sand now, closer to where Syaoran was. He was watching her and barley saw a strange substance flying through the air. It was coming right at them.

"Sakura, watch out!" Syaoran yelled, launching himself onto her and bringing them both onto the ground.

Thick tar-like acid went flying over their heads, barley missing them. They both looked up to see the black demon standing before them. It almost seemed to be speaking to them, even though it spoke no words, telling them that it had come back for another fight.

"Are you ready Syaoran?" Sakura asked, getting up.

"You had better believe it."

Both Sakura and Syaoran darted out to either side of the demon. Both of them summoned their special magical weapons. The creature didn't seem very phased; it crouched and waited for the attack.

"FLY! FIREY!" Sakura yelled, turning into a hurtling ball of flame.

The creature managed to avoid Sakura's flying attack, but not Syaoran's. Flames encircled and ensnared the creature. The creature, although, had very thick skin which took a long time to actually burn. The demon turned and leapt at Syaoran.

"WATERY!"

The creature was doused with water and was completely fireless before hitting Syaoran. They both went tumbling back into the ocean. Once there, the creature tried to hold Syaoran under the water.

Syaoran was giving a hard fight. He managed to turn over and hold the creature beneath the water. He was barley managing to do that with the creature thrashing about.

"Syaoran, get out of there!" Sakura called to him from the sky.

Syaoran wasted no time. He got up and ran to the shore. The creature was not so fast. Once Syaoran was out of the water, Sakura called upon The Thunder card. The thunder bolts hit dead on. The creature was successfully stunned.

Syaoran aimed and threw his sword at the creature. His aim was well and managed to pierce the creature's ruff hide in the leg. This caused the demon to scream out. It pulled the sword out of its leg and tossed it onto the sand. Instead of making for Syaoran, it gave a mighty leap and tackled Sakura.

"SAKURA!"

Sakura was being choked by the creature. Its slimy hands were around her neck. It didn't last long though; it was soon pulled of by Syaoran, who threw it back into the ocean.

He helped Sakura up before turning back to the creature. It could have gone on a lot longer, so it confused Sakura and Syaoran when it ran away again. The two sorcerers ran after the thing as fast as they could. The creature, unfortunately, was much faster and managed to escape.

"What is going on here?" Syaoran asked.

OOO

Sakura and Syaoran walked into Sakura's house, both tired physically and mentally. They were met at the door by Touya.

"Sakura! What the hell did you do to her, gaki?" He yelled.

"I didn't do anything." Syaoran said, glaring at Touya. "It was that stupid demon."

Touya's eyes narrowed. "I knew it wasn't a good idea to go out. What if you had been killed? What would I do?"

"I'm fine Touya." Sakura said, giving her onii-chan a hug. "Syaoran kept me safe."

Touya glared at Syaoran, who returned the glare. "I still don't trust him."

Syaoran walked Sakura up to her room. It was still filled with lab tables and equipment. Sakura didn't even care anymore, she was too tired.

"Hey Sakura, gaki, guess what I've discovered." Kero greeted.

"What Kero?" Sakura asked, a little more awake.

"This is the most interesting and puzzling thing I've ever seen." Kero continued, "You see, in all living things, everything has the same DNA. It comes up in codes, but it's all the same. We all have four sugar phosphates: Thymine, Adenine, Guanine, and Cytosine. But in this creature, there is a fifth phosphate! One that I have named xitocine…or phosphate 'X'."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Syaoran asked.

"It means, gaki, that this thing definitely did not originate in Japan…or China."

"Is there anything else Kero?" Sakura asked her guardian beast.

Kero sighed, "I know that there is definitely a weakness to it, I just don't know what. I'm going to have to keep your room in lab stance a little longer Sakura."

"It's okay." Sakura said, and then turned to Syaoran. "Tonight was wonderful Syaoran, even if that creature came, I still enjoyed it."

Syaoran smiled, "I'm glad, as long as you're well and happy, then I'm well and happy."

Sakura smiled and walked him to the door for the second time that day. Once he left she returned to her lab room. The faster she helped Kero figure out this weakness, the better.

OOO

VictorianPearl: Yay, I know it's not the greatest chapter, but I hope you liked it anyway.


	6. Stranger's Past

VictorianPearl: Yes, yes, I know its late Friday but at least I managed to post it _on _Friday.

Li: Nobody said anything.

VictorianPearl: Well…I know you would have if I didn't say anything first. I've been busy all day. I was forced to leave my house at 8:30 this morning to go to the house we're moving into to paint. I painted my butt off for five hours! That's not including breaks.

Sakura: What a story.

VictorianPearl: I'm not complaining, I'm just stating the facts. It could have been a lot worse.

Sakura: Yeah, Li could have been there.

Li: What's that supposed to mean?

VictorianPearl: Never mind, here's the next episode.

Chapter 6

Stranger's Past

Sakura yawned and made her way up to her room. It was early morning; she hadn't even tried to sleep in her own room. She knew that the only resort to get any sleep would be in the front room. Unfortunately, Kero's experiments could be heard throughout the night.

Sakura walked into her room. Kero was still busy with his lab work. He didn't look at all tired in the least bit.

"Kero, aren't you going to take a break?" Sakura asked.

Kero was usually asleep or glued to video games when he wasn't eating. Now though, he had gone a whole twenty-four hours without them. "I really don't want to stop, but since you've asked, I could tell you all I've discovered."

Sakura sighed; she knew this would probably be the best she would get out of him. "Okay Kero, go ahead and indulge me."

Kero grinned, "I've done some more DNA tests on xitocine. It turns out that our demon friend was actually human at one point…or almost human.

"It went under a great magical change. I believe that is what caused the extra phosphate to be created. Also, some of the strands of DNA are in triple helixes, rather than doubled ones. All of the extra information may be what's causing it to be able to regenerate its arms so fast. The whole thing is a genetic mess."

"That's pretty good Kero." Sakura complimented. "You were able to discover a lot of information overnight."

"Why thank you."

"What will you do now?"

Kero thought for a moment. "I'm not quite sure. I think my next goal will be to figure out what weaknesses the demon has. The faster we figure out how to beat it, the better."

Sakura nodded. "That's a good plan. I'll leave you to your work then."

OOO

"Come on Meiling."

"No, it's okay."

"No it's not, you have to come. The party is partially in your honor. If you don't have a dress to where, it won't be proper."

"It doesn't matter."

"Whatever, we're taking you with us and that's that."

Four girls were giggling as they walked out to a sleek, black car. Three of the girls were Sakura, Tomoyo, and Chiharu. They were busy convincing the fourth girl, Meiling, to go shopping.

They all hopped into Tomoyo's convertible car. It was the perfect summer day to go zooming with the top down. Tomoyo let nobody down by driving at top speeds to the nearest mall.

Meiling rolled her eyes. "I can't believe I'm actually letting you take me _shopping_."

"Meiling," Chiharu asked. "When was the last time you went shopping?"

Silence filtered through the air.

"Exactly," Tomoyo said. "There is no way you're worming your way out of this. You're just going to have to sit back and take it."

Meiling sighed in defeat. Maybe this whole shopping thing wouldn't be too bad. She had to admit, she had never been to the mall with friends. She just hoped she wouldn't be forced into buying those spiked heels that some girls wore.

Tomoyo drove into the parking lot and screeched into a front row space. The hood of the car came up with the press of a shiny, black, button.

"Alright ladies," Tomoyo said, getting up. "Are you ready to go bargain hunting?"

"YES!" The three other girls' chimed.

They went and hit all of the dress stores first. Sakura caught Meiling eyeing some of the longer dresses.

"No way Meiling, this is a cocktail party, not winter formal."

"There's nothing wrong with long dresses." Meiling replied.

Chiharu tossed a scarlet dress into Meiling's hands. "Buy that one. I can guarantee that nobody will be able to stop staring at your legs."

Meiling blushed. "Whatever Chiharu, that won't happen." Nonetheless, Meiling bought the dress.

In the next store, Tomoyo and Sakura got into a little argument. Poor Sakura was having a bit of a time trying to convince Tomoyo that she wanted to _buy_ a dress.

"Come on Tomoyo, just this once." Sakura pleaded with wide eyes.

Tomoyo looked doubtful. "I just don't know Sakura. Can these brand-name dresses be trusted with good quality?"

"I'm sure they're fine."

"I don't know…"

"Please, I'll let you pick."

"Okay!"

Meiling leaned over to Chiharu. "Do they always argue like this?"

"All the time," Chiharu replied.

They watched as Tomoyo picked out a sparkly green dress. It had thin straps, a cupid's heart neck line, and a swirling skirt.

"I don't know Tomoyo." Sakura said, eyeing the dress. "Do you think Touya would allow that?"

"Who cares what he thinks?" Tomoyo said, pulling Sakura to the register. "Nobody will stop me from making you look as kawaii as possible!"

Chiharu shook her head. "Poor, poor, Sakura,"

After two hours of dress shopping, the four girls retired to the food courts. They were satisfied with their work well done.

"Your dress is very sexy Meiling." Chiharu commented bluntly. "We'll need to find you a boyfriend at the party."

"Mou Chiharu," Meiling said. "No boys will be looking at me. Yamazaki-kun will be fighting them all off of you. What, with that light blue dress of yours?"

"What's wrong with my dress?" Chiharu asked. She had gotten a halter top dress that had a dangerously low neckline.

"Nothing is wrong with it." Sakura commented. "But seriously, Takashi-kun will be surprised. You're not the type to get short dresses."

"You're the one who said it was a _cocktail_ party!"

"Ladies, ladies, please calm down." Tomoyo said. "Let's leave the subject of dresses in their bags and talk about something else.

"I'm sorry, but I have to ask, when are you getting you dress Tomoyo?" Sakura asked.

Tomoyo smiled, "I'm making mine. I don't trust some of those brands out there. Enough with that though, you need to eat!"

After the girls were done with lunch, they slipped back into Tomoyo's car. They were all dropped off at their houses by the time one o'clock rolled around.

Sakura jumped out of Tomoyo's car and waved as Tomoyo quickly disappeared. She turned and made her way up the steps. Today was July 1. The date of the party was stet for July 13, Syaoran's birthday.

Sakura hummed as she skipped up into her room. This was going to be so much fun.

OOO

Eriol sat in his chair, deep in thought. He could feel the evil magic burning in his memory. IT was so familiar, where had he felt its presence before?

Because Eriol was the reincarnation of Clow, he had inherited all of Clow's memories. For some reason though, all of his memories of the demon were blocked. There was a void in his mind, a space, not allowing him to see deepener into the memories.

Eriol heaved a sigh. It was extremely frustrating not to know what was going on, especially when the lady he loved was involved. Although she hardly had a part yet, Tomoyo's time was coming.

"Is everything alright Master?" Spinel asked, flying onto his master's shoulder.

"I don't know Spinel, nothing is clear to me now."

"Perhaps with a little more time things will become clearer."

"Perhaps,"

"SUPPI, MASTER, WHAT ARE YOU DOOOOOING?" Nakuru's voice screamed.

Spinel flinched, "There's never a quiet moment with her around."

The door burst open and Nakuru flounced into the room. "Why did you leave me Suppi, I was all alone down there."

"Who's Suppi," Spinel asked. "_I_, on the other hand, was trying to find some peace with Master."

"Why would you do that?" Nakuru asked, "Master can be so dull sometimes."

"Precisely,"

"That's enough you two." Eriol said, standing up. "We're having a guest in a few minutes and I can't have you fighting."

"Oh, who is it?" Nakuru asked.

"Just my cute little descendant,"

"Why is he coming over here?" Spinel asked suspiciously.

"We just need to have a little chat." Eriol said. As if on cue, the doorbell rang. "There he is now. Nakuru, will you let him in?"

"Yes Master!" Nakuru cried, skipping down the stairs.

"I don't know why you sent _it_ to answer the door." Spinel commented. "It will only scare the little wolf away."

Eriol walked down the stairs and saw Syaoran waiting in the entrance hall.

"You had better have a good reason for calling me over here Hiirigizawa." Syaoran growled.

"Of course," Eriol said cheerfully. "Please follow me to the lounge."

Syaoran stalked behind Eriol to the lounge. Once there, he found a chair farthest from Eriol and sat in it.

"I have called you here, Xiaolang, to tell you of a vision that troubles me." Eriol started.

Syaoran's eyes narrowed. "I thought you couldn't see into the future any more."

"True, very true," Eriol smiled. "But I can tell when bad things are going to happen. I know for a fact, that if you are not always on your guard, you will be gravely hurt."

"Why are you telling me this?" Syaoran asked.

Eriol's expression remained the same. "Although I may not care too much for you, Xiaolang, I do care for Sakura-chan. If you ever got hurt, it would hurt her as ell. That is why I am telling you this."

"No nee," Syaoran said. "I'm always on my guard."

"You're very welcome." Eriol said.

There was a long pause in which Syaoran glared at Eriol and Eriol smiled aback at him.

"Is that all?" Syaoran asked, breaking the silence.

"I believe so." Eriol said.

Syaoran nodded and stood. He was making his way to the lounge exit when Eriol called to him.

"There is just one more thing I forgot to say."

Syaoran stopped and turned back, waiting.

"It is hard for me to ask you this." His smile faltered a little. "Could you watch out for Tomoyo? I do believe there will be a time when I will be incapable of protecting her."

For one second, Syaoran's glare subsided. "Of course," he whispered, before leaving the room.

OOO

Sakura was walking home from the supermarket. Touya had "asked" her to go out and buy some more napkins. Unable to get out of it, Sakura gave in and walked to the store.

It was 5:00, it was getting dark and she was almost home. She began to walk a little faster, fear taking over her body. She thought she was imagining shadows in front her, that is, until they rose from the ground.

Sakura gaped as the demon stood before her. It just stood there, staring at her. Neither of them moved. Sakura put her hand to her neck, but the demon was quicker. IT strode forward and placed two fingers on Sakura's forehead.

Sakura was paralyzed, unable to move. She heard the creature's voice echoing inside of her head.

"Be sure to send this message to the little wolf." The voice said.

Suddenly, Sakura could see old memories flashing through her head. The memories were in black and white; but, they were extremely clear.

Sakura could see what looked like ancient China, made of hills and country land. She saw a beautiful house with a family all around. No sooner than that, the house was burning and people were screaming.

Memories sped through Sakura's mind, playing scenes of tragedy before her. She didn't understand the concept of it all. Why was this happening?

Lastly, a memory of a young boy being taken away drifted though her mind. He was so sad and in so much pain. Why was this happening to him?

The creature released Sakura from its hold. She stumbled back, breathing hard. The creature began to walk away.

"Remember," its voice said, "tell the little wolf." With that, it sunk back into the ground from which it came.

Sakura did not hesitate to race home. She dropped the napkins in the doorway and bounded up the stairs. She quickly dialed Syaoran's number on her cell phone.

"Hello?" He answered.

Sakura burst into tears. "Syaoran, it was horrible."

"Sakura! What happened?"

"It-it came to me. The d-demon came to me." She chocked out.

"Sakura, listen to me." Syaoran said. "Stay where you are. I'm coming over right now!"

OOO

VictorianPearl: I hope you liked it. Please review!


	7. Welcome Party

VictorianPearl: Aloha, I'm so sorry that I haven't written in four weeks.

Syaoran: It's about time; I've been waiting what seems like forever for my party to finally start.

Sakura: Me too!

VictorianPearl: I'm glad to see you guys too. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter. I tried to put more creative and likeable ideas into it. Tell me if I did that properly.

Living Metonymy

Chapter 7 Welcome Party

Sakura was shaking on her bed. She was hugging a pillow to her, waiting for Syaoran to open the door to her bedroom and run in. She almost wished that Kero hadn't moved the equipment to the basement. Now she was left to wait alone.

A memory of the creature floated through her mind. She had been so defenseless, anything could have happened. _But nothing did happen._ That thought was not entirely true though. Those memories happened, and the creature had had the advantage over her.

The window started to rattle violently. Sakura jumped up, reaching for her star necklace. She looked up to the window; what she saw there almost made her cry. Syaoran was sitting on a tree branch, trying to open the window. Sakura ran to the window, unlocked it, and threw it open.

Syaoran slipped in through the window and immediately took Sakura into his arms. She was shaking hard and gripping his shirt tightly. Syaoran reached back and closed the window. He then picked Sakura up and went to sit down on her bed.

Syaoran gently stroked Sakura's hair, keeping her tight in his arms. "Do you want to tell me what happened?" He asked.

Sakura took in a shuddering breath. "What happened is…" she told him all that had happened.

Syaoran didn't like the message he was supposed to receive. He liked the fact that Sakura had been in immediate danger even less. The creature may have not hurt her this time, but that wouldn't stop it from hurting her in the future.

"What do you think it means? Sakura asked.

Syaoran shook his head and looked down into her eyes. "I don't know."

"I don't get it." Sakura said. "The vision I saw was of ancient China. You couldn't have done anything to the creature."

Syaoran inhaled the scent of Sakura's hair. "We'll figure it out eventually. We'll just have to be on our guard until we do."

Sakura stayed safe in Syaoran's arms for quite a while longer. It wasn't until Syaoran looked up at the clock that he noticed how late it was. He started to get up, but Sakura grabbed his hands.

"Please don't go." Sakura pleaded.

Syaoran didn't want to, but it _was_ getting late. "I'm sorry, but it's very late…"

"Stay, I don't want you to leave me." She hung her head. "I now nothing will happen. I just…I'm afraid of being alone after what happened."

There was no way that Syaoran could have resisted her, even if he had wanted to. "I'll stay." He smiled.

"Thank you." Sakura said, giving a small smile.

Syaoran went and turned off the lights. He climbed into Sakura's bed, wrapping his arms around her. She slept peacefully that night, not ever feeling so safe before.

OOO

One week passed by, the creature did not show itself in that time. Sakura was both suspicious and relieved at the same time. She just hoped that nothing bad would happen at the party, which was later that day.

Sakura had spent all day decorating the house and fixing herself up. She was now in her green sparkly, dress, waiting for people to arrive. Fuijitaka had promised Sakura he would be gone all day and out of her way…but not without leaving Touya behind.

_Ding Dong_

Sakura excitedly raced to open the door. When she did, there was a large group of friends standing there. With that, the party began.

Syaoran and Meiling arrived behind the first group. Sakura immediately took them and introduced them to new friends and reunited them with old ones. She managed this while also answering doors, setting the music, and serving the food. She was the best, and in Syaoran's opinion, _cutest_, host there could be.

Currently, standing in a circle chatting happily, was Chiharu, Tomoyo, Meiling, and another boy. Chiharu was giving Tomoyo a complimentary eye.

"I think you outdid yourself this time Daidoji." Chiharu said.

Tomoyo had made a very strapped, blood red dress. It almost seemed out of character for sweet little Tomoyo.

"Why thank you Chiharu, you look lovely yourself. But moving onto more important matters…" She nudged the boy next to her. "Raiden-kun, you're a nice, shy, boy. I think it's time we found you a nice _girlfriend_.

The boy next to her blushed. "I don't think that's necessary Tomoyo-chan." Raiden said.

He had deep blue eyes and lengthy, bright blonde hair. He had transferred to Japan from America at the beginning of their junior year of high school.

"She has a point Raiden." Chiharu put in. "I don't think you get out enough."

"What does my getting 'out' have to with having a girlfriend?" The poor boy asked.

"Well, if you had a girlfriend, you'd have a reason to go out." Tomoyo said innocently.

"Leave the poor guy alone you two." Meiling said, rolling her eyes. She saw someone waving to her out of the corner of her eye. 'I'll be right back guys." With that, she walked away.

Chiharu sent a side look to Raiden. "You know, Meiling-chan is single…"

"Don't even go there." Raiden cut in.

Meiling was talking to Naoko and Lan. She was having a good time until a sudden emotion crashed down on her like a wave. She quickly excused herself and went to seek out a more private place. She climbed the stairs and went into Sakura's room, closing the door behind her. She sat on the bed and clutched her arms to herself.

OOO

It was mid-evening in Hong Kong. Meiling was getting ready for 'bed' early. What she was _really_ planning on doing was visiting Syaoran one last time before they left for Japan. She was just making her way to her room when her mother called her.

"Meiling," her mother's hard voice called, "come here, we need to talk."

Meiling froze. This could only mean one thing. She had been preparing herself for it for a while; but, she wasn't so sure of herself now.

"I'm coming."

Meiling slowly walked down the hall and into the living room. Her parents were sitting on the couch, impatiently waiting for her arrival.

"Take a seat." Her father said stiffly, motioning to a chair near the couch.

Meiling obeyed, silently walking nearer to her parents and sitting in the chair.

"I'm going to cut strait to the point." Meiling's mother started. "We've been preparing you to marry your cousin since you've been very little. When he came back without the Clow Cards, we were disappointed, but when we found out that you released him form the engagement, we were infuriated. You let the only chance of a good future slip away to some stupid girl who claims to be the Card Mistress."

Meiling's temper flared. "Do not insult the Card Mistress."

"Don't tell your mother what to do." Her gather stepped in.

"It's one thing if she insults me, but _nobody_ insults Sakura-chan." Meiling gritted.

"I'm ashamed of you," her mother cried, "talking to your family in such a disrespectful manner. Is that what they teach you in Japan?"

"They respected me in Japan, even when I didn't respect them." Meiling shot back. She suddenly no longer cared about respect. Her parents had been bringing her down all of her life; it was time she stepped up.

"We don't know what you do in Japan," her father started, "and we never want to know. After tomorrow, don't come back. As of now, we no longer have a daughter."

Meiling blinded, this was hurting a lot more than she thought it would. Maybe it was the fact that they didn't love her or care about her at all. She wanted them to care a _little_ bit. That would never happen though.

"If you are so ashamed as to disown your only child, then I am better off alone and without you." Meiling didn't wait for an answer; she turned and walked to her room.

OOO

Raiden took in a deep breath as soon as he reached the top of the stairs. The girls had never been so persistent in arranging his future for him. Between Tomoyo and Chiharu, he wasn't sure which one was more serious about controlling his life. He knew their intentions were well, but couldn't they give him a chance to breathe?

Right now, more than anything, he just needed to be alone. He walked up to the first door of escape that he saw and opened it. He was very surprised to see the girl known as Meiling Li crying. She, in turn, was very surprised to see him as well.

"Oh!" Raiden said, completely shocked at what he had found. 'I-I'm sorry, I didn't know you were in here."

Meiling quickly wiped away her tears. "It's okay." She managed to mumble.

"Should I leave you?" Raiden asked. He had never been good with the subject of girls; he had no clue on how to act.

Meiling gave a weak shrug. "If you want,"

Raiden closed the door and took a seat next to Meiling on Sakura's bed. "I had to get away from the party too." He told her.

Meiling gave a small nod of notice. For some reason, Raiden really wanted to do his best to comfort the Chinese girl sitting next to him.

"Do you mind if I ask what's wrong?" Raiden asked. _Nice, you want to cheer her up, but instead, you're making her bring out the topic she's grieving over._

Meiling shook her head. "I'll tell you. I really don't' know why I'm going to though, I haven't even told Syaoran yet."

"Sometimes it's good to get things off of your chest and out into the open." Raiden said, giving a smile.

Meiling looked up at him. He was being sincere; she knew he would keep her secret. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad idea to tell him after all.

"Before I left China," Meiling started, "my parents had a little 'talk' with me. They basically told me that I was worthless. To make matters worse, they disowned me. I feel shamed as a daughter, but I also feel shamed that I was ever apart of my family."

"Well, would you really consider the people who disowned you your parents?" Raiden asked, thinking about the situation.

"No," Meiling answered quickly. "They are simply my birth parents, the are not _real_ parents though."

"Then I don't think you have to feel shamed toward them." Raiden said, reading Meiling's confused face. "I mean, in America, where I come from, if your parents don't want you, then you hold no ties to them. You go out and find people who love you and want to take care of you. _Those_ people are the ones that matter the most. Leave the past and its people behind, you're better than them."

Meiling looked at him with hopeful eyes. "Do you really think I'm better than them?"

Raiden gave a smile. "I _know_ so. You have a kind heart, that is already more than your 'parents' have…right?"

The Chinese girl gave a smile, making Raiden feel much better.

"Right,"

"Then it's settled, let's go down to the party. Our absence might be noticed." Raiden said, getting ready to stand up.

"Wait!" Meiling cried.

Raiden remained sitting, giving Meiling a questioning look.

"It's just; I told you how I got here. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind telling me how _you_ got here." Meiling asked hopefully.

Raiden smiled. "Of course I'll tell you."

OOO

Raiden nervously tapped his fingers against the desk he was in. It was his first day in Japan. His parents were crazy about traveling to Japan. They had even taught Japanese as a second language to Raiden. This time though, they decided to stop the long trips and actually move there.

Raiden was glad and upset about it at the same time. He was glad that he was with his parents more often. Before, he hardly got to see them because of their frequent trips to Japan. He was sad though because he was leaving all of his friends and family behind in America.

The door to the classroom slid open. The first students, save him, were entering. They were two girls and one boy. The first girl was very slim with short, auburn hair and green eyes. She had a big smile on her face and was talking animatedly with her two friends.

The other girl had long dark hair and violet eyes. She was smiling as well and holding hands with the boy. The boy was smirking down at her behind his glasses. He had navy hair and was quite taller than the two girls.

The girl with the green eyes noticed him first. She walked over to him. "Ohayo gozaimus. I'm Sakura Kinomoto; you can call me Sakura though. What's your name?"

"Raiden Wilson desu. You may call me just 'Raiden' though." The quiet boy said.

"Raiden," the girl repeated, "That's very foreign. Where are you from?"

"America, I just moved here last week." Raiden replied.

"You hardly have any accent at all." The boy with the glasses commented. "By the way, I'm Eriol."

"Ohayo Eriol, the reason I don't have much of an 'American' accent is because Japanese is my second language."

"That's interesting," the other girl commented, "Americans usually don't' learn _Japanese_ as a second language. They usually learn Spanish or French."

Raiden smiled. 'Yes, you're right. But my parents are very _unusual_ Americans. That should explain it."

Tomoyo giggled. She held out her hand to shake. "I'm Tomoyo."

Raiden shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Tomoyo."

OOO

Meiling smiled. "Sakura, Tomoyo, and Eriol are all very nice. I'm glad that you met them first."

"It's good to see you smile." Raiden said.

A pink hue quickly passed over Meiling's face. "I want to thank you for cheering me up."

Raiden waved his hand. "Anytime…now how about we go back down to that party?"

Meiling smiled and got up. "I'm ready when you are."

OOO

VictorianPearl: And so concludes chapter 7. Hopefully chapter 8 will come up faster than this one did.


	8. An Unexpected Fight

VictorianPearl: Yay, these chapters are coming up fast. Although this one is going to be posted a couple of days later then I originally wanted…

Li: It's alright, nobody's complaining, and if they are, I haven't heard anything.

VictorianPearl: Yes, well…I wish I could get my chapters up when I say I'm going to get them up. I would be frustrated if someone said they were going to post a chapter one day but decided to post it later.

Li: Well don't remind them of their own frustration.

Chiharu: What's up with you anyway _Li_? You come and go randomly. whispers Does anyone even _like_ you?

Li: Let's just say I have a complicated schedule.

VictorianPearl: On with the show!

Living Metonymy

Chapter 8 An Unexpected Fight

Syaoran's sweet face turned sour as he spotted Meiling descending the stairs; arm in arm with Raiden. They were both smiling brightly…_too_ _brightly_. It made him wonder if something had happened that shouldn't have happened.

Sakura looked up toward where Syaoran was looking. She couldn't help but laugh.

"I wouldn't worry too much Syao-kun. That's Raiden-kun that Meiling-chan is with. He would never do anything disrespectable or short of honorable to her."

Syaoran looked a little doubtful. "I hope you're right. I don't want to see her get hurt again."

Sakura wrapped her arms around Syaoran's waist. "Trust me; it will all be fine, just have a bit of faith."

Their conversation was cut off as Tomoyo stood on a chair, getting everyone's attention.

"Hello, I know I'm not the hostess, but I'm going to be for one minute. Grab a partner and get ready to dance! I hope you all know how to tango."

The rest of the night passed wonderfully. The next day would hold more trials for our heroes. It would not be Sakura and Syaoran, although, who would have to face the new trial.

OOO

Raiden breathed in the air deeply. He couldn't believe what had happened last night. He was usually the shy and quiet boy at the party, but last night he felt so much livelier. He was lead to do something that he never would have done under normal circumstances. It was that something that lead him to where he was right now.

Raiden was walking with Meiling through the park. It wasn't just any simple walk that they were on though, it was a _date_.

Now Raiden was not the type of boy to ask out a girl after only knowing her for one night…or even one year. Last night though…events seemed to unfold in front of him and destiny was shown. Walking in on Meiling crying didn't seem like such a coincidence at the moment.

"So," Raiden started. "What do you plan to do with your life?"

Meiling thought for a moment. "I like to fight, so I guess something in that area of the field."

"You fight? That's awesome, how did you come to do that?"

Meiling looked up at him, somewhat surprised that he was so interested in her. "Do you want the long version or the short version?"

"The long version," Raiden replied.

"We had better take a seat then."

OOO

"She what!" Syaoran yelled.

Sakura and Kero winced. They had come by Syaoran's apartment that morning. Sakura naively mentioned Meling's leaving with Raiden which didn't go over too well with Syaoran.

"Why are you so mad about it?" Kero asked. "Not only is Meiling capable of taking care of herself, but; you're the one who is encouraging her to lead her won life."

"How have I encouraged her to lead her own life?" Syaoran asked the sun guardian.

"Let me think…you made her live in a separate apartment room from you. Or did you only do that so that Sakura could sneak into your apartment more often?"

"That's not it!" Syaoran cried, blushing a shade of scarlet. He turned toward Sakura. "Why did you bring the stuffed animal anyway?"

Sakura sweat dropped. "He insisted…"

"Damn strait I did." Kero interjected. "I saw what happened one night, about a week ago from the party."

Both Syaoran and Sakura were blushing furiously now. Kero's topic was soon dismissed as Sakura brought up her reason for coming.

"I think that we would try talking to the demon." Sakura suggested.

Syaoran gaped. "Although that _would_ be the best was to solve a problem, this demon is clearly all action and little talk."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I knew that Syao-kun. I was suggesting that we force him to talk to us."

How do you propose we do that?" Kero asked.

"We could try to trap it or corner it. We only need to understand the tie between ancient China and Syaoran." Sakura said.

"Did you rehearse that last night?" Kero asked.

Sakura raised an eyebrow that immediately shut the little beast up.

"It's definitely worth a shot." Syaoran said. "Let's start working on a plan."

OOO

"So Sakura is actually a sorceress of these magical cards, she has two guardians, one of which is in Yukito. Your cousin, Syaoran, was a Cardcaptor until Sakura became Mistress of the Cards. He has magical powers and has a magic sword. You used to help out but there has been no magic since then?" Raiden repeated.

Meiling nodded. Why she told Raiden years worth of secrets, she could not say. It was as if her heart and mouth took temporary control of her body and blurted out everything. She was only on her first date too! She prayed that she hadn't just done something incredibly stupid.

Raiden frowned a little. "I'm not saying that I _don't_ believe you. I just need to see some of this _magic_ to be one hundred percent convinced."

One cue, the black demon arose from the ground and stood in front of Meiling and Raiden in the deserted park.

"Is that convincing enough?" Meiling asked dryly.

"More than enough," Raiden replied breathily.

"You should stay back Raiden-kun." Meiling said, getting into fighting stance.

"I might have not had as much training as you, but I was trained in martial arts." Raiden replied.

Meiling actually tore her eyes away form the demon to look at the American boy next to her. "Really?"

"I told you that my parents were obsessed with Asian culture." Raiden said, giving a smile.

The demon stepped closer, putting both of the fighters on alert. The demon stopped advancing and crouched down into a fighting stance. A moment of utter silence passed through the park. In a split second, both sides launched into an attack.

The demon jumped at Raiden, wanting to take out what looked like a more threatening target. Raiden leaned back as the demon fell toward him. Right before the demon made contact, Raiden dropped to the ground. The demon soared over Raiden and landed in a crouched position.

Meiling sent a flying kick at the creature, which contacted it's shoulder. The creature skidded back a few feat, but managed to jump and avoid Meiling's next attack.

Once the demon landed, Raiden was able to send a mighty punch to the demon's chest, causing it to stumble. The demon's eyes glowed red, showing Meiling and Raiden that it was very angry.

The two fighters took stance again, but didn't have to hold long. The demon's hands began to glow green with magic. It was ready to play dirty. It unleashed a series of blows upon them.

Raiden darted to the trees while Meiling fell into a series of back flips. The exploding green magic always seemed to just miss her. She quickly rolled into a back summer salt, barely managing to take cover behind a bulky tree.

The creature concentrated its energy, attempting to build it up. Before any attack could be played by the demon, it was immobilized by Raiden. He had come up behind the creature and managed to tightly pull it's arms tightly behind it's back. The creature would not be held long though.

Raiden was barely able to hold the creature; it was thrashing about so much.

"Meiling-chan!" He cried out. "Why is this thing here? How do we get rid of it?"

Meiling ran out form her hiding place toward the demon and Raiden. "What do you want from Syaoran?" She cried at the demon. She was angered by the stupid thing's random attacks.

The creature gave a chuckle. "What do I want, you want to know?" A voice said without the use of a mouth. "I want him to suffer."

"Suffer this!" Meiling cried, launching a punch at the creature.

The creature melted back into the ground, causing Meiling to fly into Raiden's chest. He automatically locked his arms around the Chinese girl's waist and pulled them away from the spot where the demon fell. As they looked at the grass, there was no sign of it.

Meiling looked up a Raiden from in his arms. "I think we need to tell Syaoran about this."

OOO

"I can't believe he fell for the ice cream trick." Syaoran murmured against Sakura's neck.

Sakura breathed hard. "It works every time; he'll be gone for hours."

Syaoran kissed Sakura thoroughly on the lips, pressing against her on the couch. He trailed his kissed down to her chest. Sakura moaned and arched her back, her hands running through Syaoran's hair. He pushed her thin straps down and brought his warm kisses down her shoulders.

Sakura shivered at his lips on her skin. Every time he kissed her, she remembered just how much she missed him. Her lips moved feverishly against his as he brought more kisses to her full lips.

Syaoran moaned in Sakura's mouth as he felt her hands slip under his shirt and move up his chest. He momentarily broke away to pull his shirt off over his head. He was soon brought back down by Sakura's twining arms around his neck. He loved the way she felt so warm against his bare chest.

As Sakura's hands were tracing over Syaoran's back, she felt a rigid, long scar set diagonally across his back. The thought that he had endured what was probably magical pain only make her kiss him harder. What had happened during those eight years? The distant look he got in his eyes when it was mentioned was enough to break her heart.

All of Sakura's thoughts were wiped away as Syaoran's warm hands slowly moved up her stomach. She arched her back against his. He was very close to pushing her shirt up when the phone rang.

Syaoran's hands immediately jerked back to him. He gave Sakura a quick apologetic and embarrassed look before getting up to answer the phone.

Sakura propped herself up against the back of the couch. Wow, how far would that have gone if the phone had not rung? She blushed to thin about what had happened right before it rang. IT was then that she started to listen to Syaoran's conversation.

"You what? It what? HE WHAT!" Syaoran cried into the phone. "Listen, I want you to come strait to the apartment and tell me exactly what happened. Okay, hurry, and be safe."

Sakura heard the gentle click of the phone against the receiver and watched as a flustered Syaoran re-entered the room. "What's wrong? Who was that?" Sakura asked.

"It was Meiling." Syaoran started, stress evident in his voice. "She and Raiden Wilson were attacked by that _thing_ while in the park."

Sakura clasped her hands to her mouth. "Oh no, are they alright?"

"I think so." Syaoran replied. "I just hope that she and Wilson weren't to shaken…especially Wilson."

"Do you not like Raiden-kun?" Sakura asked.

Syaoran frowned. "It's not that, it's just that I don't know him personally. I don't know what he's capable of doing. I would just feel better if I knew him."

Sakura smiled warmly at her love. "I think your chance will arrive in about five minutes."

As Sakura predicted, Meiling and Raiden burst through Syaoran's apartment door exactly five minutes later. They were both panting, having run strait from whatever payphone they were at.

"Are you two alright?" Syaoran asked, shutting the door behind the both and leading them to the couch.

Both Raiden and Meiling drank form the water that Sakura gave them before answering. Syaoran was patiently waiting for their explanation in a chair set across form them. Sakura soon came and joined them.

"We were just walking through the park when it came up from the ground." Meiling started. She lapsed into how she and Raiden both fought the creature, surprising Syaoran a little that Raiden could fight. "I asked what it wanted, and it said that it wanted you to suffer."

Syaoran's face was set grimly. "It wants me to suffer?"

"Yes," Meiling replied. "But listen Syaoran, the thing was_ laughing_ at us. This is all just a game to it. The only thing it wants is you. The rest is for it's own sick entertainment. It's just doing this to see you get mad."

Syaoran nodded. "I can't say I'm not upset, but I'm not exactly angry either. I just hope we can figure this out before I _do _get angry."

"Don't worry Syaoran." Sakura said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We'll all be here to help you."

"You do mean _all_ of us, don't you?" Raiden asked, meaning that he wanted to be included.

Syaoran looked at him. "You do know that this is very dangerous. This isn't like when Meiling told you about the Cardcaptors. This is much more extreme. If you want to fight, you could get hurt."

Raiden nodded. "I know. I _did_ experience it first handed after all. But if Meiling wants to help fight, then I want to help fight with her."

Syaoran actually managed a small smile. "If you want to help then I won't try to stop you."

Meiling smiled as well. "Thank you Syaoran-kun."

For the moment, the four were relatively safe and happy. They would stay that way for short period of time. If it would be the same for everyone else, they would not be able to tell. Why was it that Eriol would not be able to protect Tomoyo though?

OOO

VictorianPearl: And so ends chapter 8.


	9. Deceit

VictorianPearl: I know, I know, it's been forever since I've updated.

Li: You've got that right.

VictorianPearl: Don't worry though, now that summer break has practically started I'll have a lot more time to write. I plan to end Living Metonymy by the end of June and start a new fiction.

Syaoran: innocently Who will be starring in this new fiction?

VictorianPearl: You will, actually, but I won't say anything more until I give the plugs. Until then, read on.

Living Metonymy

Chapter 9 Deceit

Tomoyo sighed as she began her long walk down the street. The magnitude of the situation at hand was rising. She had received a call from Sakura yesterday, telling her about how Raiden was now involved and how he and Meiling had been attacked. It was unfortunate that he had been thrown into this mess.

That was not why Tomoyo was taking a long walk down the street though. For some odd reason, Eriol had been avoiding her lately. He sounded fine on the phone, but he wormed his way out of meeting up with her anywhere.

At first she gave him his space, but now it was time to investigate. Just what was going on with him? Did he want to break up? No, that couldn't be it; there must be something else that has been bothering him.

After about ten more minutes, Tomoyo finally arrived in front of Eriol's mansion. Sure, she could have driven her car here, but now Eriol wouldn't be able to get rid of her so easily. If he wanted her to leave, he would have to take her home himself.

Tomoyo opened the gate and waited a few seconds. The door was opened by Nakuru.

"Oh, hello Tomoyo!" Nakuru cheered.

"Hello Nakuru, I'm here to see Eriol." Tomoyo said politely.

"Alright, but he's been acting strange lately…stranger than usual anyway." Nakuru said, opening the door to Tomoyo.

Tomoyo waited in the hallway as Nakuru shut the door.

"Master was up in his library, but I think he's in his music room now."

Tomoyo immediately made her way up the staircase. She was preparing herself to talk some sense into Eriol Hiirigizawa. He wouldn't get away with not talking to her for such a long time.

She quietly slipped into the music room. As soon as she saw Eriol though, her resolve dissipated. He was sitting at his piano. The board was down, covering the keys. His elbows rested upon the board and his hands held his face. He was in deep thought and looked as if he had been stressing over some kind of matter.

"Eriol," Tomoyo called softly.

Eriol jumped off of the music bench and turned to face her.

"T-Tomoyo…what are you doing here? Why are you here?" He asked hurriedly.

Tomoyo felt slightly sad at the fact that he wasn't glad to see her in the least bit.

"You're smart Eriol. I think you can figure out why your girlfriend would come to see you, considering the fact that you've been avoiding her."

"Look Tomoyo," Eriol said, running a hand through his hair. "I know I haven't been seeing you, or even giving an explanation as to why I'm not seeing you, but you have to trust me on this one. You just have to stay away from me."

Tomoyo bit her lip at his words. "Are you saying that you want to go on a break?"

"No," he answered quickly.

"And you _don't_ want to break up?"

"That's correct."

"Then why are you doing this?" Tomoyo cried. "I can't just go home not knowing why you've randomly decided that you can't see me."

"Please just listen, Tomoyo." Eriol begged.

"Why can't you tell me what's going on?"

Eriol sighed. His emotions were going crazy. What should he tell her?

"I can't tell you in order to protect you. Please just get back in your car and drive home."

"I can't." Tomoyo said, her voice lowering. "I walked here. If you want me to leave, take me home yourself."

Eriol shook his head. "I'll have Nakuru drive you."

"If you do that then you're guaranteeing my death. That woman in a maniac driver and you know it."

A pause crept between them. They both stood there, mentally battling over who would win and who would loose.

Eriol shuddered inwardly. It was the first serious fight that had gone on between them. He felt so bad for doing it, but it was for her own safety.

When Tomoyo saw that Eriol was not relenting, her poor heart broke. Her own boyfriend, whom she was supposed to be able to share anything with, wouldn't share with her. Well if he didn't want to talk, she would just leave.

"Fine," Tomoyo whispered. "I'll leave."

She turned and walked to the door. She put her hand on the handle and paused. She turned back to look at him.

"Will you at least give me a kiss goodbye?"

No sooner had she finished the sentence and Eriol's arms were around her and his lips were moving against hers. The kiss soon became heated and Eriol's hands roughly traced over Tomoyo's body.

Suddenly, Tomoyo wasn't quite as upset, and didn't care quite as much about their dilemma. She had missed Eriol so much, she hadn't even realized.

She arched her back against him as he pressed her against the door. She tried to momentarily break away from his kiss to breath, but found that she could not. When she tried to move away, she found that she was completely trapped. She gave a hard shove to his chest, sending him stumbling backwards.

Tomoyo caught her breath and looked up at Eriol. Who she saw though, was no longer Eriol. It was his body, but he had changed. His skin had turned a scaly black color. His fingers shaped into pointed claws and he had sharp fangs pointing from his gums. Most frightening of all, were his blood red eyes, glowing like coals.

Tomoyo screamed.

She turned to push the door open, but found that it had been locked by some trickery of magic. She turned back to see who was once Eriol smirking nastily at her. He paced a few times, his eyes observing what she would do.

Tomoyo looked around for some kind of escape rout. Her eyes lay on the collection of instruments. She hoped that Eriol would forgiver her for doing this. As quickly as she could, she ran toward the instruments. If she could get to them fast enough…

But she never got there. Tomoyo was tackled from behind by Eriol. She let out another scream as she fell onto the harsh, cold, tile. She flipped over and tried to kick the creature on her. Her attempts were futile though, Eriol's hold on her neck would not give.

There was a loud banging from the other side of the door.

"Tomoyo, Eriol…are you two okay?" Nakuru's voice called.

Tomoyo bit Eriol's hand and gained herself a few moments of breath.

"NAKURU, HELP ME! IT'S ERIOL HE'S-"

Tomoyo was cut off as Eriol harshly slapped her across the face. He then clamped his hands over her mouth.

Tears of frustration and absolute fear came out of Tomoyo's eyes. She faintly heard a voice yelling.

"STAND BACK!"

There was a loud explosion and the door went flying off of its hinges. Both Nakuru and Spinnel flew into the room in their transformed forms. Spinnel ran and dove into Eriol, sending him flying off of Tomoyo. The panther then pick up Tomoyo with his teeth and threw her on his back.

"Are you alright Tomoyo-chan?" Spinnel asked.

"I will be as soon as the real Eriol is back, Spinnel." Tomoyo panted.

Nakuru powered a ball of energy in her hands and launched it at her master. The energy hit target, causing Eriol to be launched into the air and sent crashing into the wall. When his body hit the floor, the creature which was occupying it came up.

"Spinnel, take Tomoyo and have her call Syaoran-kun and Sakura-chan. I'll distract it until you do so!" Nakuru called.

Spinnel immediately obeyed. He went flying out of the room and down the stairs to the nearest phone. Tomoyo jumped off of his back and called Sakura. Her cell phone rang twice before she was able to answer.

"Moshi moshi, this is Sakura-chan." Sakura said cheerfully.

"Sakura," Tomoyo breathed. "You've got to come quick. I'm at Eriol's house. That thing's took control of Eriol. It's out of him now though and Nakuru is fighting it!"

Sakura gasped. "I'll be right there."

"And bring Syaoran-kun." Tomoyo cried before hanging up.

Another explosion was heard from upstairs. Tomoyo saw Nakuru getting blown out of the room and falling unconscious onto the floor. The creature walked out of the room after her. He looked at her and then down the stairs to Tomoyo and Spinnel.

"Stay back Tomoyo." Spinnel said. "Find something to protect yourself with while I distract him."

Tomoyo watched as Spinnel flew up the stairs to meet the creature. She immediately turned and ran to the kitchen. She searched all of the drawers until she found a large butcher knife. She ran back to the edge of the staircase, watching the battle between Spinnel and the creature. Spinnel wasn't doing so well.

"Tomoyo, go and find a place to hide. I don't know how much longer I can hold him off." Spinnel called, sending another magical attack in the creature's direction.

"Hang on there Spinnel." Tomoyo called to him.

She didn't want to just run and hide, but it seemed as if she had no other choice. She knew just the place to go. There was a room where Eriol stored everything. It would be a good place to hide and she would be able to get out fast if needed.

She had barely gotten to the room and shut the door when she heard Spinnel crying out. She knew it wouldn't be long before the creature started to come looking for her. She ran and ducked under a table that was surrounded by stacks of boxes. She could see two clear pathways for her to escape from her spot. She just hoped that the creature wouldn't find her before the creature did.

Tomoyo listened as intently as she could for the creature. Her eyes were adjusted to the dark room and she stared at the light at the bottom of the door, looking for a shadow that might cross it. She scarcely breathed as she lay in wait.

Suddenly, Tomoyo had the strange feeling that she was being watched. The hairs on the back of her neck and spine crept up. She felt the panic rising within herself. She slowly turned to look toward her second means of escape.

She saw nothing.

Tomoyo let out a sigh of relief. She was just imagining it. She turned back to look at the door but was met by two blood red eyes.

Tomoyo screamed at the top of her lungs. She scrambled to the second exit but was caught by her ankle. She was flailing and screaming, trying as hard as she could to get away. She gained more strength in her fear and kick the creature squarely on its nose. It released its hold on her and she darted out from under the table to the door.

The door flew open from Tomoyo's hands. When she was out, she saw Sakura, Syaoran, and Yue running through the front door.

"Sakura!" Tomoyo cried.

Tomoyo was caught up by her best friend's arms and started crying uncontrollably. Sakura held onto her poor friends, cursing the creature that did this.

"It's in there." Tomoyo cried, pointing to the room from which she had come.

Yue sent a burst of bright magic into the room, lighting it up. There was a squeal heard and the black creature came running out of the brilliant room.

Syaoran saw the creature coming and sent a kick strait to its solar plexus. The creature fell. Before it had a chance to melt into the ground though, Syaoran picked it up. He held it up before himself.

"Yue, I want you to cause this thing as much pain as you can possibly manage." Syaoran said, his voice low.

"As you wish," Yue replied.

The angel placed his hands on either of the creature's shoulders. He whispered some foreign words under his breath. A bright light came from his hands and spread throughout the creature's body.

It began to scream and twitch all over. Yue held for a while before Syaoran called him off.

"What do you want?" Syaoran asked the creature. "Tell me what you want with me. If you have something against me, you'll deal with me, not my friends."

The creature didn't reply.

"Do you want Yue to send the light through your body again?" Syaoran asked, nodding his head toward the moon angel. "I know that you can speak, tell me what you want."

The creature gave a slow nod. "I want you and everyone you know to suffer."

"That's not good enough. I want a reason as to why you're doing this."

Silence filtered through the room. Syaoran nodded toward Yue, signaling him to send the light through the creature's body again. But before Yue could reach the creature, it melted through Syaoran's hands and into the ground.

Syaoran cursed and kicked the ground. He then turned to Sakura.

"They're upstairs." She said.

The four went upstairs to see how badly Nakuru, Spinnel, and Eriol had been injured. Thankfully, nothing major had happened. They were just a little beat up. The latter as well as Tomoyo were all put into beds.

Sakura, Syaoran, and Yue cleaned up the damage and tended to their wounded friends. Syaoran vowed that the next time he saw this creature, he would end it all.

OOO

VictorianPearl: How did you like it? I think it was a pretty good chapter. Please review.


	10. A New Plan

VictorianPearl: Alrighty, this is the second to the last chapter (I'm still not sure if I'll include an epilogue). I know it's been an extremely long journey.

Sakura: You're telling me.

VictorianPearl: The next chapter(s) after this will all be up extremely quickly and before the end of the month. I plan to stick to that resolution.

Sakura: That means that you must magically type the next chapter(s) within exactly 8 days if you want them up _by_ the 30th of June.

VictorianPearl: Don't remind me. Anyway, here's the next chapter.

Living Metonymy

Chapter 10 A New Plan

Syaoran stood in his apartment gazing at the night sky through his open window. The warm breeze barely ruffled the hair o his head. He was trying to clear his mind. He had been thinking non-stop of a way to stop the creature and find its secrets. Now he was trying the opposite affect.

"Light wielders that repel darkness."

"What?" Syaoran asked, snapping back to reality. He turned to see Sakura in her white nightgown, running her hands over her silver necklace.

"The book said that the necklaces were light wielders. Maybe we should try using these."

Syaoran studied her small form as she came to stand next to him. Her nightgown was thin strapped and had a low, heart-cut, neckline. The gown flowed to her ankles but had long slits on the sides, revealing her slim legs.

Syaoran unconsciously ran a hand across her shoulders. "We can try it. I would prefer it if Kero gave us more information on a weakness though."

Sakura sighed. "Yes, we would all like that."

Syaoran gently took Sakura in his arms. Ever since that one night that he had stayed with her, it had been happening more often.

"I was thinking," Sakura started. "Maybe I could use the Return Card to see what happened to the creature."

"Only if you want to take a plane to China." Syaoran said.

Sakura mentally kicked herself. "I had forgotten I actually had to _be_ at the place it happened."

Syaoran sighed into Sakura's hair. "Don't worry, we'll think of something."

Sakura leaned into Syaoran's chest and let his strong arms swallow her. Who would have thought that he would have brought the use of magic back into her life? It was odd how everything played out.

Only a few doors down, Meiling was also staring at the night sky through her open window. She was sad for what had happened to Eriol, Tomoyo, Spinnel, and Nakuru; but, she couldn't help but feel happy about her new relationship with Raiden.

Her new life in Japan was filling her with hope that she could defeat any trial in her way. Actually, the last time that she had ever felt this happy was the last time that she had been here in Japan. Who would have thought that a boy from America had helped her feel this way?

A sigh escaped Meiling's lips as she reminisced about a few days before. She and Raiden were alone, tending to the four wounded in one of the room's in Eriol's mansion.

She wasn't quite sure how it all came together. She had been working one second and in his arms the next. They were so close to kissing when Touya burst through the door, demanding to see Yukito.

Meiling leaned against the wall and let herself slide down to the floor, her arms wrapped around herself. As crazy as it sounded, she actually was _glad_ that this creature was festering Tomoeda. If it hadn't been, she and Raiden may have not gotten a chance to get so close. It was so weird how everything worked out ne?

OOO

"I'm sure that you're all wondering why I've called you to this meeting." Sakura said.

Currently, Sakura Kinomoto was standing at the head of her dining room table. Sitting around the table were Syaoran, Tomoyo, Meiling, Eriol, Nakuru, Spinnel, Kero, Yue, Touya, and Raiden.

"I've called you here because we must come up with a plan for defeating this creature once and for all." Sakura continued. "We've been terrorized, wounded, and have been given no plausible explanation."

"Do you have any plans in mind?" Touya asked, arms crossed and brow raised.

"That's exactly why you're all here." Sakura said. "We have to figure out some sort of way of beating this thing."

"We could always try the surround and destroy method." Nakuru put in.

"I did think of that, but…" Sakura trailed.

"But then how would we keep it from going underground?" Syaoran finished.

"By using the Loop Card of course."

Syaoran gaped at the person who said that before sending him a glare. "Please tell me why you failed to mention that detail before, Hiirigizawa?"

Eriol shrugged innocently. "I guess it slipped my-excuse me, _Clow's _memory."

"Of course!" Sakura slammed a fist on the table. "That's it!"

"It seems mistress has figured it out." Yue commented. "_Finally._"

"Does anyone who lives with or has something to do with that creepy house of Eriol's know something and won't tell us?" Syaoran asked, sending a suggestive glare toward Eriol.

"They don't." Yue said. "But it would appear that some of us piece the puzzle pieces of the mystery together faster than others."

"Perhaps, but it does nobody any good if they don't vocalize their thoughts." Syaoran muttered.

"Does anyone care to hear Sakura's thoughts?" Meiling asked.

Everyone quieted down, giving Sakura a chance to speak. "Okay, now hear me out before you say anything."

Sakura went through her newly concocted plan, step by step. When she was done, she stepped back to observe everyone's thoughts.

"I think it could work." Meiling commented. "We would need a lot of help from Raiden though, ne?"

Raiden slightly blushed. "Hai, I could help out a lot."

"The special effects you were talking about shouldn't be too hard either." Tomoyo said, sketching some things down on scratch paper.

Kero, who had been silent the entire time, finally gave a word. "You now, thinking right now, I just figured out what that thing's weakness is. Actually, I feel stupid that I didn't notice it before. What its weakness is are things based on the earth element."

Sakura's eyes lit up. "That could work in perfectly!"

"The two preferable cards to use would be Earth and Wood…perhaps Create could work." Kero pondered.

"Well, let's not wait. Let's start getting organized." Touya said, standing up.

And so they did.

OOO

Yelan sat in one of the temples outside. She had come out about an hour ago to calm her thoughts. She was sitting on her knees, facing outside. It was night. It was raining extremely hard…a recent development.

The sound of rain was pounding on the temple roof. It was the middle of summer; the rain had come from almost nowhere. It had been clear all day until only a couple of hours ago. Yelan would have mistaken it as coincidence any other day, but today, she felt a strong sense of foreboding.

Yelan knew that the great evil she had sensed was gaining power. She also felt that Syaoran was, or would soon be, in danger. The emotional overwhelm of everything going on in her head rendered her useless to thinking. Henceforth, she was kneeling in the temple, waiting for the rain to pass.

The mansion next to the Li estate could be seen over the stone wall. It made Yelan think of Meiling; for, it was her parent's dwelling place. She vaguely wondered how the girl was. She couldn't be worse off than she was when she was here in China.

A sigh escaped Yelan's rouged lips. She so wanted to see her son and niece again. Would she ever be able to see them? Yes, she would. She was sure of it. She knew Syaoran wouldn't give completely into the elder's commands without a fight…a fair fight. The elders had taken to twisting some of the rules they dealt. Oh well, they were old and would hopefully die soon. If anyone could restore the elders' council, it was Syaoran. When the time was right, he would be able to come back and take over as the leader of the clan…if he wished to.

The lights in the home of Meiling's parents went out. It must have been late. Yelan no longer looked for what time it was. Without Syaoran here, things seemed to have lost just a little bit more of their meaning. A similar thing had happened when her husband had died. Although, Syaoran was not dead; therefore, there was still hope burning bright within Yelan.

The rain started to come down even harder than before. It would be a long night. There would be plenty of time to clear all of her mind. There was nobody waiting for her to return back inside. She would take as long as the rain lasted, and by the looks of it, that would be a long while.

OOO

The day had flown by. It was already night time in the town of Tomoeda. In it's park, many young adults lay in wait for something about to happen. If anyone were able to look down on them though, they wouldn't be able to see all of them. In fact, they would only be able to see one of them, an older teenager with short auburn hair holding a pink wand with a yellow star.

It would have been a very interesting sight indeed. For the girl, who was seemabley playing with a little girl's toy, seemed extremely alert and serious about what she was doing. If anyone had happened to walk into the clearing in the park in which she stood, they would have had some type of booby trap spring on them or some type of magic hit them.

However, nobody was looking down on the auburn haired girl and nobody was anywhere near the park. It was an extremely quiet and clear night. All of the town's residents were already in their homes, although it was not all that late. All of the children were already asleep, even though it was summer and they had stayed up later many a night before this one.

What was about to happen to them was not anything that would prove to be good in any particular way. What was about to take place, would not make everyone happy again. The battle that would be fought would cause more energy from the mind than it would energy from the body.

In the middle of a clearing, an auburn haired Sakura Kinomoto stood waiting. She was the bait for a very large and dangerous fish. Although she was sure that her plan would work, she felt as if it would take much more than what they had planed to win the battle. For this battle, would decide the winner of the war.

OOO

VictorianPearl: Yep, this one is shorter than my usual chapters, but I have decided to make an epilogue. Instead of making one extremely long chapter that would take forever to post. I'm making two smaller chapters and then an epilogue that will be posted in faster order.

Touya: Please review, that way I can get some fighting action in the next chapter.

VictorianPearl: Listen to Touya, Ja ne.


	11. The Final Battle

VictorianPearl: It's going to be a close call, but I will have the epilogue up before the end of this month…I hope.

Li: Is the title of this chapter supposed to be suggestive?

VictorianPearl: innocently Um…maybe.

Syaoran: Anyway, VP doesn't own CCS for all of you who want disclaimers.

Li: On with the final chapter…not including the epilogue of course.

Living Metonymy

Chapter 11 The Final Battle

Sakura stood in the middle of the clearing in the park. She was clutching her wand desperately against her chest, awaiting the arrival of an expected creature. There was an unwelcoming silence filtering through the air, unnerving Sakura slowly by the second.

There was a faint hissing noise coming from behind Sakura. She whipped around to see what was there. She looked desperately into the darkness of the trees…she saw nothing.

Sakura took several deep breaths in attempt to calm herself. She was allowing herself to panic too easily; she had to remember to keep a clear head. She turned back around and shrieked. Standing now merely inches away from her was the creature.

There was a faint chuckling sound coming from the creature, although Sakura could not see anything resembling a mouth upon it's face. She was clutching her wand so hard that her knuckles were turning white. She was breathing hard, fruitlessly trying to calm herself.

"Silly girl," A voice seemingly coming from the creature said, "I have lived for centuries where you have naught; do you really think that you can so easily fool and defeat me?"

Sakura nodded her head defiantly. "As a matter of fact, I do!"

The creature emitted another throaty chuckle, causing Sakura to shudder.

"I suppose we shall see now, shan't we?" It said.

Sakura nodded curtly. "We shall."

The pair of them stood still for several silent seconds.

"You surely don't plan to take me on alone now do you?" The creature taunted.

"No," Sakura replied calmly, "I have my cards to fight with me."

The creature's red eyes narrowed in a way that suggested it might have been smirking had it a mouth.

"Surely you will need more help than that."

"I suppose we shall see now, shan't we?" Sakura said mockingly, losing her fear.

"Foolish girl," The creature spat, "I will teach you and your precious little wolf a lesson you'll never forget."

Sakura took that as her cue for action. She threw a card up into the air.

"Wood,"

The whole of the park's earthy ground turned into sleek wood.

_"Earth cannot hurt the creature unless it's used in a direct attack. The only earth substance it cannot penetrate in it's leaving is cherry wood."_

"So," The creature said, no longer in an amused voice, "you managed to find one weak point that will not stop me from causing you and the little wolf great suffering."

"You now what I've noticed through my life?" Sakura spat. "Those who are all talk are usually the ones that have no power to back what they say."

The creature, greatly angered by this comment, began to throw great orbs of flame at Sakura.

"Shield," Sakura cried, tossing yet another card up into the air.

A gleaming shield appeared in front of Sakura, barely in time to deflect the flaming orbs.

The next step in her plan was to wear down the creature as much as possible without wearing herself down first.

"Windy, form chains that bind!" Sakura cried as the shield vanished.

Sakura watched as the creature was bound tightly and having great difficulty moving. Great winds were sweeping through the park. She had to put effort into keeping her footing. She couldn't actually remember Windy's chains being this strong before.

The creature struggled for a while, but managed to get out of the bind it was being held in, causing the winds to stop.

"Is that all you've got girl?" The foul creature asked, glaring at Sakura.

"If you're expecting more, I find that you won't be disappointed." Sakura said in a reassuring manner.

The creature looked as if electricity were running through it's body. Upon closer look, Sakura realized it was about to throw an electric attack.

Upon impulse, Sakura threw a card up into the air.

"Sand,"

It was sheer luck that Sand appeared to absorb the electric attack just as it left the creature's fingers. The creature sent a few more electric attacks at Sakura, all of which were absorbed by the Sand.

When Sakura saw that the creature was not going to send any more electric attacks, she called Sand back into it's card form. Now was the time to progress in the plan.

"Flower,"

This attack baffled the creature as it was bombarded with many flowers. It produced the exact effect that Sakura was hoping to get.

"NOW," Sakura yelled, signaling the others, "Light,"

Tomoyo, Nakuru, Raiden, and Meiling, all of who were carefully hidden in the trees, pulled on ropes, raising carefully hidden mirrors on the ground, up into place. As soon as Light appeared, she reflected off of the four mirrors, causing her effect to intensify.

The creature let out a mighty screech, swinging wildly in attempt to get away from the bombard of flowers and out of the light.

The four people in the trees tied their ropes around the branches to secure the mirrors. They then moved into the next position they were required to be in.

Back on the cherry wood ground, the creature was howling like mad, cursing at Sakura.

"Damn you girl, the light cannot kill me! Your plans are futile; I'll kill you for this. You have yet to see my full power!"

The creature finally managed to get out of the bombard of flowers. It was seething and concentrating on Sakura.

"Are you ready to feel my power?" The creature asked.

"No, she's not." A different voice from the shadows spoke. Touya walked out into the light and placed himself between the creature and Sakura, who had not moved at all since the beginning of the fight.

"What is this?" The creature asked in an amused voice. "A powerless human wishes to face me alone?"

"Not alone," Another voice from the shadows said.

Yue walked into the light and came to stand next to Touya.

"And certainly not without Power," Sakura said, calling out the last word to release the Power Card for Touya's use.

Touya glowed with a red aura. He pulled out a silver, ruby studded, wing necklace from within his shirt.

"Ah," The creature acknowledged, "so you are one of Clow's light wielders."

"Obviously," Touya muttered, positioning into fighting stance.

A moment of stillness passed before the fighting broke out. The creature grew long arms again so that it could fight off Touya and Yue faster. They were all moving so quickly that they seemed to be blurs.

Sakura didn't like to simply stand and watch, but it was all part of the plan. They would go down the line, each without tiring themselves too much.

As Yue was flying around and shooting silver beams at the creature, the beams would cause the deep shadows to come alight. Sakura could vaguely see some of the others hidden in the trees; she hoped that the creature was too occupied to notice this.

The Light had faded, leaving the park looking relatively darker. Touya was unused to this change and was hit by one of the creature's arms, sending him flying backward. Sakura was about to call a card to help him but Yue managed to sweep him up before he hit the ground.

Meiling and Raiden watched the battle, waiting for their chance to fight. Yue and Touya were still battling with energy to spare. There would be time before Meiling and Raiden had to go out and fight.

"Do you need help?" Raiden asked, watching Meiling strap a mirror to her arm in the use of a shield.

"Nope, it's strapped on tight." Meiling said, lifting and twisting her arm to make sure that it really was secure.

"We're almost up." Raiden said, somewhat fearfully.

Meiling looked at her blonde boyfriend with concern in her eyes.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine. After all, we've fought at before ne?"

Raiden gave a small frown, reminding her ever so slightly of her former love.

"Don't frown," Meiling told Raiden, "it doesn't suit your face."

"I'm sorry," Raiden said, trying to keep his frown from deepening, "but this is going to be much more dangerous and a lot tougher than last time."

"Don't worry, we'll be fine. Sakura would never let us get hurt anyway."

Raiden gave Meiling a small smile, looking at her with emotion filled eyes that caused her to freeze. The last time he had looked at her like that, it had been in Eriol's mansion.

"Raiden…?" Meiling whispered, suddenly forgetting everything around her.

Raiden said nothing; he simply took her in his strong arms and gently kissed her. The couple was falling into each other until a loud explosion brought them back to the fight.

From the clearing, Yue was seen flying off into the trees, Touya close behind. It was time to go out and fight.

Sakura watched as two more of her friends came out and started to fight the creature. It was not as worn down as she would have liked, but hopefully it would be after everyone had fought it in turn.

The battle waged on and Meiling and Raiden eventually were forced to leave the clearing. First as they were disappearing from view, Kero, Spinnel, and Nakuru came flying into view, ambushing the creature with magical attacks.

As total magical chaos ensued, everyone, save Tomoyo, came out of the trees to stand behind Sakura. The last persons to enter the clearing were Eriol and Syaoran, who took their places on either side of Sakura.

"Are you boys ready for the final fight?"

Both young men nodded, eyes glued to the battle before them. The three magic made beings withdrew from the battle. They flew and landed behind Sakura with the others.

The creature paused to look toward Sakura and Syaoran. It was at this moment that it started to laugh manically, catching everyone off guard.

Touya was the first to realize that something was off. He quickly tore his necklace off.

"Sakura," Touya called, throwing his necklace to Sakura.

Sakura barely caught the necklace when a shimmering, transparent barrier formed, dividing herself, Syaoran, and Eriol from everyone else. The others behind the barrier started pounding on it and throwing magical attacks at it. It did not falter.

Sakura's head snapped to look back at the creature who was still laughing crazily. She quickly slipped Touya's necklace over her neck while she had the chance.

"Eriol don't-"

"I know." Eriol said, cutting her off. "I'll stay back for a while."

Sakura and Syaoran nodded to Eriol and then at each other. They took a few weary steps forward.

"Did you really think that that would stop me for god?" The creature cackled.

Nobody answered. Sakura and Syaoran simply braced themselves.

"No matter," The creature said, "I'll kill you right now and be done with you."

There was no pause between the end of his sentence and the outbreak of battle. Sakura and Syaoran lashed out immediately.

The creature jumped completely over them and landed with it's hands outstretched to the sky. Immediately, lightning struck down around Syaoran, trapping him in an electric formed cage.

"Syaoran," Sakura cried.

"Sakura, don't worry." Syaoran called desperately. "I'll be alright."

"Tut, tut," The creature taunted, "you don't sound too sure of yourself."

"Sakura, don't worry, I'll-" Syaoran was cut off by a nasty shock from the cage.

Sakura screamed.

The creature laughed again. "Finally, my revenge has come."

Sakura closed her eyes tightly. For one split second, she saw herself using the Erase Card and freeing Syaoran. She was about to pull out the card when old words came through her mind.

_That's just it, nobody thinks that they'll actually _hurt _someone when they're trying to _help _them. Sometimes the way you picture someone's reaction is much different from the way it really happens._

Yamazaki's words echoed in Sakura's mind. This was no coincidence. Suddenly, she knew exactly what she had to do. She turned to glare at the creature.

"You cannot fool me."

It was the only reply she gave before ripping off Touya's necklace and throwing it at the creature. As soon as it came in contact, it seared into it's skin. The creature fell in pain.

"Release him," Sakura commanded, pointing to Syaoran.

The creature cried out wretchedly, but reluctantly obeyed to Sakura's wish. The cage surrounding Syaoran vanished. Syaoran stumbled and tripped. Sakura rushed to him and caught him up by the chest. The two of them turned to the creature.

"Tell us why you're doing this." Syaoran said. "If you don't, Sakura will put the other light wielding necklace on you."

What came out of the creature's mouth next thoroughly shocked everyone listening.

"So you want the truth? Then I'll give it to you. I used to live in the exact place that the little wolf's pretty house is now on. I lived there centuries ago as a middle class citizen. But the first class clans thought that they would take the land for themselves. My family, including myself, was driven off of the land. We were completely devastated by what had happened to us.

"I became one with the darkness as I watched what happened to the land and my home. The latter was fought over for many years. Many people came on and off of the land. It was the little wolf's family who finally came to rest upon the very spot that I used to dwell.

"In order to take my revenge, I killed his father while he was to be out battling other enemies. I found though, that that was not enough. The little wolf was so much like his father; I had to kill him as well. I would not rest until I had killed him. But I knew that the little wolf was strong and would have to be attacked when vulnerable. I knew that he would be most vulnerable in Japan with the ones he loved, so I followed him across the sea to a new land.

"That, my dear cherry blossom, is why I chase your little wolf. Anyone who dwells upon my home must pay."

Sakura and Syaoran stood with their mouths open, as did everyone behind them. What they had just heard had been madness; no sane person could possibly believe such things.

"It's not Syaoran's fault that you and your family were forced off of your home. It's not his fault that his family decided to stay there!" Sakura yelled at the creature, overwhelmed by the force that the creature's words were having on her.

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!" The creature yelled. "HE'S THE REASON THAT I'M UNHAPPY. IT'S BECAUSE HE LIVES ON MY HOME!"

Syaoran shook his head. "What you feel…it's living metonymy. You have become so consumed by this that you don't even know what's relevant anymore."

"Curse you little wolf," The creature spat, "curse you and your family."

Sakura pulled off her own necklace. "You will not have to worry about this any longer."

Before the creature could answer, she walked up to it and tugged the necklace on over it's head. There was a great burst of light through the clearing. When it faded, the ground had returned to its earthy state, the glittering barrier had disappeared, and the creature had been vanquished.

Everyone turned to look at each other. It was finally over.

OOO

VictorianPearl: My first ever questions and answers!

**Cherry Blossom: **Okay, the Book of Clow is a book that I made up. In the manga of CC, it shows that on Syaoran's wish list he wants a book written by Clow. Henceforth, I thought it would be cool to actually put it in the story since the manga never actually says whether or not he gets it.

VictorianPearl: Also, I know the ending isn't really much, but there will be an epilogue. I plan to have the epilogue up by tomorrow afternoon. I will keep my promise of finishing this bloody fiction by the end of June!


	12. Epilogue

VictorianPearl: It is exactly 12:10 on June 30, 2005. I promised I would have the epilogue up by this afternoon. I will hold to my promise!

Kero: You're being so good, I think everyone reading this should give three reviews apart for VictorianPearl's good work.

VictorianPearl: Thank you Kero-chan. Anyway, the epilogue will be slightly short. It's basically going to be a wrap up of the aftermath of the battle and everything.

Kero: VictorianPearl doesn't own CCS, but you already knew that.

Living Metonymy

Epilogue

After the events of the creature, Syaoran went through rigorous research to find out who this mysterious had been at one point. He left back for a short trip to China for more information there. He was able to council with the elders and gain himself permission into the Li clan library, despite the fact that he had deliberately left the clan for Japan.

In the library, he was able to find more information about the who the creature had been. It turned out that he had been no older than Syaoran when he lost his home to the higher class. Although Syaoran wasn't able to obtain much more information than he had already been told, he _was_ able to do something that he was sure would have pleased what was once a young man.

Syaoran dedicated a shrine to the family that had been swept off of their own home. After it had been built, everyone seemed to feel less troubled about the whole affair. Nightmares that had haunted some of them left, leaving everyone at ease.

Eriol and Tomoyo didn't have any problems, despite the fact of what had happened. Sakura had offered to erase Tomoyo's memory of the day, but she refused, saying that nothing should be forgotten.

As for Raiden and Meiling, they considered the whole event a blessing in disguise. For the first time in eight years, all of the old cardcaptors were actually able to fight again. Meiling also persuaded Tomoyo (which wasn't very hard) to make copies of the final battle, which she had taped.

The other blessing in disguise that Meiling claimed to be brought upon them was Raiden. If there had been no creature, there would have been no battles which would have constantly brought the two closer together although they were the only ones saying such things.

Everyone saw their point of view and respected that, but they didn't quite feel as grateful for what had happened. Sakura and Syaoran, for one, were glad that it was over. It had brought the most stress upon the both of them. Sakura was also glad that the lab was finally taken out of the basement. Kero was beginning to get obsessed with the whole scientific role.

As more time passed, Touya finally (but reluctantly) allowed Syaoran to take Sakura on dates without any question or word in partially because he was grateful to him for saving his sister, partially because he was spending more time with Yukito. Either way, Sakura and Syaoran weren't complaining.

School started much too soon for some of our hero's likings. Syaoran was welcomed back, as well as Meiling, as if they had never left. Even Sakura was doing better in school, mainly math, thanks to her 'study time' with Syaoran.

Although everything was not perfect, it was as good as it could possibly be. Nothing is ever perfect, and if it was, it would probably be a whole lot more boring. Each member of the cardcaptor group, new and old, was thankful for this and so alas, all the pain, suffering, worrying, toiling, researching, and crying was over. What happened to them next…you decide.

OOO

VictorianPearl: Yay, it's finally over! That only took about eight months, more or less.

Sakura: It's about TIME!

Li: Ya, even I was getting bored of waiting for you to update.

VictorianPearl: I know, I know, and I am very sorry that it took me forever to update. Actually, if I hadn't set a time limit for myself to end this thing, it would have taken longer.

Tomoyo: looks at stopwatch This "thing" ended at exactly 12:30 pacific standard time. Well done VictorianPearl, well done.

Eriol: Likewise Tomoyo, nobody else could make such an accurate ending.

Tomoyo: Why thank you.

Syaoran: Why does Eriol have to be here? He isn't that important, is he?

Touya: Why do _you_ have to be here, all you do is annoy the hell out of me.

Syaoran: Why you-

VictorianPearl: Calm down, calm down, it's celebration time. Nobody needs to be fighting.

Sakura: I have one question. I've pretty much been staring in this fiction for over a half a year and I still have no clue as to what the friggin title means!

Kero: Ya VictorianPearl, some of us need some a better explanation.

Spinnel: Correction, I think that you, Kero, are the only one who needs a thorough explanation, or am I the only one, besides VictorianPearl, who know what it means.

crickets chirp

Spinnel: puts his head in his paw Never mind then.

Nakuru: You're so _smart_ souppy, I wish that we were _all _as smart as you.

Spinnel: Fortunately for you Nakuru, you will never know.

VictorianPearl: _Anyway_, back to answer Sakura's question, I'll explain Living Metonymy. It's when a person dislikes someone because of an event that happens around them that's not really their fault. For example, there was someone that went to the library to get on the computer everyday. That person always got on the same computer, but the computer didn't work properly. As a result, the person hated the manager for the actions of the computer…this is all just an example of course.

Yukito: Well that's not very relevant.

VictorianPearl: No Yukito, it's not.

Li: That's stupid, why would someone do that?

Eriol: That would be because some people need to have their heads examined.

Syaoran: I believe that you fall into that category.

Eriol: Did someone sneeze?

Tomoyo: coughs So, where did you get the motivation for this story VictorianPearl?

VictorianPearl: Yes, the motivation! As I said at the beginning of the first chapter, it just started as a pointless romance story I wrote last summer, just for fun. Then I thought, I guess I could go somewhere with this. Henceforth, it became a fiction.

Tomoyo: Interesting…

Kero and Nakuru: We want PLUGS, we want PLUGS!

VictorianPearl: Okay, okay, I'll give the plug for the next story.

Kero and Nakuru: Yay!

VictorianPearl: I, for one, have never read a story like the one I have written and am writing. It's an AU. It's going to be staring Syaoran-

Syaoran: Yes,

VictorianPearl: and of course, co-staring Sakura.

Sakura: That's right!

VictorianPearl: I don't want to give too much away so I'm only going to give out the summary and the name of the fiction. Here's the summary:

Syaoran has been banished from his land, Yen, to Tomoeda, land of mystics, as punishment. What he finds there is nothing he expected, and now, he doesn't want to go back.

VictorianPearl: It will be rated Pg-13…or whatever the new rating is. It will be a fantasy and packed with action…or at least as much action as I can pack it with. It will be entitled _Lucid Darkness_.

Spinnel: Does anyone besides me find that name an oxymoron?

crickets chirp

Spinnel: All right then.

VictorianPearl: Yes it would seem that way, but it will all make sense when the fiction comes out. I should have the first chapter up by the second or third week of June. Until then-

Everyone: Ja ne!

P.S. Special thanks to

Ms. Cherrywolf

Bharad

Chibi Mistress

Michael Bulaich

iceundine

Cherry Blossom


End file.
